Source MDx has the ability to analyze biomarkers from a wide variety of samples including a blood sample, which is less invasive than many current clinical tests such as liver biopsy.
The grant provides $100,000 in funding over a one-year period. The company will use the grant to characterize gene expression patterns from whole blood in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients and monitor their response to treatment at the molecular level. This is the fourth small business innovation research grant Source MDx has received from the National Institutes of Health.
“Although HCV targets the liver, sampling of whole blood is relatively non-invasive and peripheral blood is representative of many systemic processes,” said Dr Lisa Siconolfi, director of clinical studies at Source MDx. “Changes in gene expression in the blood from HCV patients could yield important foundational information for the development of a patient care diagnostic in the area of infectious diseases.”
Development of clinically useful RNA-based biomarkers has been inhibited in the past by the inability to measure gene expression with sufficient precision, as well as the presumption that gene expression is too variable within and between individuals.
Source MDx has addressed the issues of precision measurement and has established a normal range of human gene expression, laying the foundation for the use of RNA-based molecular diagnostics to monitor an individual’s health, disease status and response to therapy.