BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BPGbio, a leading biology-first AI-powered biopharma that focuses on oncology, neurology, and rare diseases, announced today the publication of a significant, multi-year research effort titled “Identification and validation of N-acetylputrescine in combination with non-canonical clinical features as a Parkinson’s disease biomarker panel” in Scientific Reports.
Parkinsons Disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disease, which occurs when brain cells in a particular brain region that make dopamine, a chemical that coordinates movement, stop functioning or die. By the time motor symptoms appear, 60-80% of dopamine cells are already lost. PD is difficult to diagnose and often relies upon clinical judgment, sometimes aided by imaging, after the clinician has ruled out other potential causes of patient symptoms. According to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, PD affects nearly 6 million people worldwide and nearly 1 million people in the United States. Early identification and treatment would improve long term outcomes for patients.
BPGbio researchers built their systems biology model using patient samples from nearly 400 individuals collected in a prospective clinical trial by renowned Parkinson’s disease researchers Drs. William Langston and Birgitt Scheule at the Parkinson’s Institute. Using BPGbio’s NAi Interrogative Biology platform, the BPGbio team identified and developed a CLIA-validated test for measurement of N-acetylputrescine, a novel biomarker for PD, and studied its use in combination with specific clinical features – sense of smell, depression and nightmare – as a predictor of PD. The paper details how the assessed diagnostic panel using patients’ plasma in combination with these specific clinical features significantly enhances the accuracy of PD diagnosis and improves risk assessment for PD, thus validating the utility of this new biomarker.
"Our findings offer a promising new avenue for early and more accurate risk assessment of PD by helping clinicians understand patients’ trajectory toward PD to enable intervention in earlier stages of the disease,” stated Michael A. Kiebish, Ph.D., lead investigator of the research and VP of Platform and Translational Sciences at BPGbio. “Additionally, a simple blood draw is a big step towards improving PD diagnosis and making screening easier for clinicians and their patients.”
Eric J. Nestler, M.D., Ph.D., Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and scientific advisory board member of BPGbio added, “PD is a very common condition and only about 10% of cases are highly genetic. There are currently no effective tools available today to diagnose PD before motor symptoms appear. This novel biomarker panel from BPGbio offers the potential to address this unmet need.”
BPGbio has trademarked its parkinsonDx panel and is exploring partnerships to commercialize this innovative product.
About BPGbio, Inc.
BPGbio is a leading AI-powered clinical stage biopharma and diagnostics company focused on oncology, neurology, and rare diseases. The company has a deep portfolio of AI-developed pipeline of therapeutics, including several in late-stage development. BPGbio’s novel approach is underpinned by NAi, its proprietary Interrogative Biology Platform, protected by over 400 US and international patents; one of the world’s largest clinically annotated non-governmental biobanks; and exclusive access to the most powerful supercomputer in the world. With these tools, BPGbio is redefining how patient biology can be modeled using unbiased AI. Headquartered in Boston, the company is at the forefront of a new era in medicine, combining biology, data, and AI to transform the way we understand aging, human performance, and diagnose and treat disease. For more information, visit bpgbio.com.
