Fujirebio Acquires Rights to Ovarian Tumor Markers

By HospiMedica staff writers
Posted on 21 Aug 2002

The rights to two newly discovered ovarian tumor markers, mesothelin and HE4, have been acquired by Fujirebio, Inc. (FDI, Malvern, PA, USA) from Pacific Northwest Research Institute (PNRI, Seattle, WA, USA).

Fujirebio has developed a serum-based assay, CA125II, for ovarian cancer detection. Research findings show that combining the three ovarian cancer markers may result in a greatly improved diagnostic capability, particularly for the detection of early stage disease, says Fujirebio. Recent studies suggest that combining several select tumor markers, possibly in a multiplex mode, could result in a more sensitive and specific assay for the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

"Multiplex assays are a novel development in the area of cancer detection,” said Daniel O'Shannessy, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of FDI. "They are currently used in a limited capacity, but have the potential to profoundly change diagnostics. Combining mesothelin and HE4 with CA125II has a potentiating effect on the diagnostic ability of CA125II.”

PNRI is a nonprofit biomedical and clinical research laboratory, focused on the pathogenesis and prevention of disease, especially diabetes and cancer.

Related Links:
Pacific Northwest Research Institute
Fujirebio, Inc.