Company Develops Series of Molecular Diagnostic Services

A company has created a range of molecular diagnostic services for disease identification, disease predisposition, and personalized medicine through in-house development and an active program of in-licensing.

The UK-based company was originally set up to spearhead increased availability of state-of-the-art diagnostic tests for healthcare and environmental monitoring. It is focusing its products and services in two key areas: healthcare diagnostics including personalized medicine and environmental diagnostics.

The molecular disease services offered by the company, which is called Lab21 (Cambridge and Newmarket, UK), comprise: liver disease, including hepatitis C and non-alcoholic syndromes; sexually transmitted diseases including syphilis; infectious diseases, such as HIV and malaria; cancer diagnostics including breast, skin, ovarian, and colorectal; and coronary heart disease and thrombosis.

In addition to these clinical tests and services, Lab21 is working in partnership with pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and contract research organizations (CROs) to provide molecular diagnostic support, pre-clinical and clinical research including pharmacogenetics. During 2008 Lab21 expects to secure new licensing agreements and launch new diagnostics tests, in particular in the ‘companion' diagnostics area. Companion diagnostics are growing in importance--they are tests that are used to determine the best therapeutic regime for a patient, allowing for a more personalized approach.

"Genomics and proteomics are enabling the development of medicines that are tailored either to the patients' unique profiles or that of the disease. Companion diagnostics are vital for such personalized approaches to be adopted. Lab21 is building its range to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare providers to deliver on the promise that personalized medicine offers,” said Dr. Berwyn Clarke, chief scientific and development officer at Lab21.


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