Biomarker Bulletin: January 30, 2012

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Biomarker Bulletin is an occasionally recurring update of news focused on biomarkers aggregated at BiomarkerCommons.org. Biomarkers are physical, functional or biochemical indicators of normal physiological or disease processes. The individualization of disease management — personalized medicine — is dependent on developing biomarkers that promote specific clinical domains, including early detection, risk, diagnosis, prognosis and predicted response to therapy.

• Selventa Receives Patent for Method to Identify Biomarker Profiles

  Selventa, a biomarker discovery company that enables personalized healthcare through the stratification of patients based on disease-driving mechanisms, recently announced a US patent that relates methods and techniques that facilitate discovery of biomarkers, thus aiding in the development of predictive and prognostic diagnostic tests for therapeutics targeting complex multi-factorial diseases.

• Biomarker Discovery: Moving Diagnostics to the Forefront of Medical Research

  Increasing emphasis is being placed on biomarker discovery as the key to advancing personalized medicine.

• FDA Clears Critical Diagnostics Presage ST2 Assay for Patients with Heart Failure

  Critical Diagnostics is a U.S.-based biomarker company focused on optimizing patient care in cardiovascular diseases, such as heart failure.

• SciClips Launches Cancer Biomarker Database

  The success of personalized cancer therapeutics relies on the development of companion diagnostic assays that can identify the most appropriate cancer patient, tumor type and disease state. To address this need, SciClips, a Wisconsin-based open innovation platform company that enables scientists and researchers to collaborate and share research and ideas, recently launched a cancer (oncology) biomarker database.

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Fund Biomarkers of Gut Function for Global Health

  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is currently seeking letters of inquiry for the grant program Biomarkers of Gastrointestinal (Gut) Function and Health.