MADISON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Stemina Biomarker Discovery Inc. today announced it has rebranded its diagnostics business to more accurately represent its focus on neurological disorders. NeuroPointDX is transforming diagnosis and allowing more precise treatment of neurological disorders based on the patient’s metabolism. The company’s proprietary metabolomics technology is already being implemented in the largest clinical study ever conducted of the metabolism of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
The Children’s Autism Metabolome Project or “CAMP” study has enrolled more than 200 patients with autism and other neuro-developmental disorders. The CAMP study has an enrollment goal of 1,500 children ages 18 to 48 months comprised of three groups of children: those with ASD, others with developmental delay but not ASD, and typically developing children. An early look at the data from CAMP has confirmed that the first metabolic subtype of ASD is being identified in the CAMP study with about the same prevalence and predictivity as was seen in pilot studies of banked blood samples at the MIND Institute at UC-Davis and the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
Metabolomics is the study of differences in metabolism between people like genomics is the study of genetic differences between people. Metabolomics focuses on identifying normal and abnormal patterns of small molecules that indicate the presence of illness or disorder. Altered metabolism in a patient offers more diagnostic and therapeutic insight based on the patient’s own metabolism.
Stemina also announced that Kevin Krenitsky, MD, former chief commercial officer and senior vice president of international strategy and chief operating officer of Foundation Medicine Inc., to the Stemina’s board of directors. He joined Foundation in June 2011 and was instrumental in taking the company from a startup organization to a successful IPO in 2013, followed by a $1.2 billion investment by Roche making it the company’s majority shareholder. Dr. Krenitsky recently joined Opgen Inc. as president.
“Dr. Krenitsky will be a key contributor to our business strategy for NeuroPointDX,” said Stemina’s CEO, Elizabeth Donley. “NeuroPointDX will provide services for neurological disorders that are similar to those provided by Foundation Medicine for cancer.”
“Just like cancer is a constellation of subtypes, neurological disorders like autism and schizophrenia have subtypes. Using our biomarker discovery platform, we have already identified a series of more than 10 potential subtypes of ASD, Donley said. “We expect that our approach will provide important information for diagnosis and more precise treatment of ASD and other neurological disorders as well as opportunities to collaborate with drug developers on targeted therapies and clinical trials.”
Stemina was awarded a $2.7-million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in August 2015 to support the CAMP study. The study also is supported by a $2.3-million investment from the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation. Children are being enrolled at the MIND Institute at the University of California–Davis, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute in Little Rock, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, and the Melmed Center in Phoenix. Two additional sites are joining the study, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Lurie Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, and will begin enrolling patients later this month.
The CAMP study will validate NeuroPointDX’ diagnostic test for ASD from a small blood sample. NeuroPointDX will leverage the metabolomics platform technology developed by Stemina for its work in other neurological disorders. Stemina’s proprietary metabolomics technology is capable of identifying not only biomarkers associated with disease, but also metabolite patterns associated with toxicology and cellular response to drugs or chemicals. Stemina will continue to deliver its compound safety screening services to pharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetics and tobacco companies as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
About NeuroPointDX:
NeuroPointDX is a division of Stemina Biomarker Discovery. NeuroPointDX will use its metabolomics platform and proprietary biomarker database to diagnose, treat and develop new therapies for neurological disorders.
Visit NeuroPointDX at http://neuropointdx.com/
Stemina Biomarker Discovery:
Stemina Biomarker Discovery was founded in 2007 and is located in Madison, Wisconsin. Stemina is a biomarker discovery company focused on diagnosis and individualized treatment of neurological disorders including autism spectrum disorders. Stemina uses its proprietary metabolomics platform to identify changes in metabolism that can be biomarkers more effective diagnosis and treatment of autism and other neurological disorders. Stemina operates its business in two divisions: NeuroPointDX focused on developing diagnostic tests for neurological disorders; and Stemina focused on screening chemicals and compounds for their potential to cause birth defects if a woman is exposed during pregnancy.
Visit Stemina at http://www.stemina.com/