Intrinsic Bioprobes licenses diabetes biomarkers to Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics

Intrinsic Bioprobes today announced the exclusive licensing of two novel biomarkers for diabetes to Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. (Raritan, NJ). The biomarkers are modified forms of blood-circulating proteins and have been linked with the presence of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes. The financial terms of the licensing agreement were not disclosed.  

"The biomarkers were discovered using Intrinsic Bioprobes' unique Mass Spectrometric Immunoassay technologies," says Urban Kiernan, Ph.D., the Director of Biomarker Discovery at Intrinsic Bioprobes. "The biomarkers were extensively tested and shown to have statistically significant clinical sensitivities and specificities in differentiating subjects with pre- and type-2 diabetes from healthy controls," adds Kiernan.

The initial discovery of the biomarkers was supported in part by a 5-year, $2M grant from the National Institutes of Health to Intrinsic Bioprobes, in collaboration with researchers from Yale University. "Diabetes is a complex disease, and novel markers could help us understand it better and identify disease subtypes," says Dr. Salvatore Sechi, program director at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. "We are pleased that the scientific discoveries made through the Small Business Technology Transfer Program are of interest to a large diagnostic company."