GeneNews announces the publication of a paper in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology

Oct 22 2009

GeneNews Limited (TSX: GEN), a company focused on developing blood-based biomarker tests for the early detection of diseases and personalized health management, today announced the publication of a paper in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. The paper reports data using GeneNews' proprietary Sentinel Principle(R) platform technology to identify complex changes in blood gene expression patterns that were differentially regulated between active and inactive Crohn's disease. These differentially regulated genes represent potential new biomarkers for assessing the activity of Crohn's disease.

"Crohn's disease is a chronic, incurable condition that affects more than 500,000 people in North America each year. The ability to identify the activity of the disease would be an important advancement for gastroenterologists to help their patients achieve and maintain disease remission," said Dr. Robert Burakoff, principal investigator for the reported study, Clinical Chief of Gastroenterology and Director of the Center for Digestive Diseases and of the Crohn's and Colitis Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

"Discovering these potential biomarkers also demonstrates one of the many applications of our proprietary platform technology, the Sentinel Principle(R), which has already been used to identify biomarkers associated with colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, schizophrenia and cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Heiner Dreismann, Lead Director and Interim CEO of GeneNews. "Now that the Sentinel Principle(R) is protected by our recently issued U.S. patent, we are seeking partners to work with us to accelerate the development of our pipeline of 'Sentry' products and expand the application of our Sentinel Principle technology to address unmet pharmacogenomic and companion diagnostic needs."

This paper entitled, "Differential Regulation of Peripheral Leukocyte Genes in Patients with Active Crohn's Disease and Crohn's Disease in Remission" will appear in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, a journal featuring the world's latest and most relevant clinical studies and reviews, case reports, and technical expertise in the area of Gastroenterology. It is also available online at https://journals.lww.com/jcge/toc/publishahead.

The Sentinel Principle(R), a platform technology developed by GeneNews, is based on the concept that all clinical conditions and body states, including those resulting from disease or in response to treatment, generate characteristic gene expression signatures in the blood as a result of the close physiological interaction of blood with the cells, tissues and organs of the human body. This technology is the basis of GeneNews' first product, ColonSentry(TM), the world's first blood test for colorectal cancer, which was launched in Canada last year.