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news.Ore Pharmaceuticals has announced that DioGenix, its molecular diagnostics subsidiary, has identified novel sets of genes that it believes will form the basis of a new assay to diagnose multiple sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system.
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DioGenix plans to refine these gene sets and further confirm their disease association before it begins to develop an effective commercial assay for diagnosing patients presenting with early symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The company is seeking strategic alternatives to fund DioGenix’s product development efforts.
To discover these correlative gene sets, DioGenix scientists compared gene expression profiles from a genome-wide analysis of whole blood samples from MS patients, patients with alternative diseases which mimic MS and samples collected from normal donors. The scientists found statistically significant differences in gene expression between the groups, resulting in a novel gene set now covered by the company’s recent international patent filing.
Larry Tiffany, CEO of DioGenix, said: “A blood-based test that can diagnose MS would improve the quality of care for patients who currently must endure a lengthy, costly and invasive medical workup, even in those cases where MS cannot be definitively diagnosed.”