Isotope Biomarkers Reveal Protein Fingerprints of Brain Disease

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KineMed Inc. (www.kinemed.com) announced today that Dr. Patrizia Fanara, Vice President of Neuroscience, will present at the 5th Neurodegenerative Conditions Research and Development Conference on Sept 22nd, 2011 in San Francisco, CA, at 10.10am.

“Novel Biomarkers that Monitor Brain Changes in Neurodegeneration and Translate into Humans”

Dr. Fanara’s presentation entitled “Novel Biomarkers that Monitor Brain Changes in Neurodegeneration and Translate into Humans” will discuss how KineMed’s neuronal pathway-based biomarker approach has advanced the field of biomarker research and treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Fanara will focus on KineMed’s use of non-radioactive isotopic labeling to compare changes in the kinetics of biochemical processes between healthy and diseased states, thereby identifying pathways that are causal in pathogenesis.

“We will be presenting advances that represent a new future in this field through an unprecedented ability to measure not just one molecule but an entire pathway, and the flux of proteins within that pathway. This enables us to look directly into the immense complexity of neuronal function in vivo and obviates the need to create simplified disease models, with their inherent weaknesses. We are providing our collaborators with a rich and powerful toolset that reveals causal disease processes in their early stages, identifies trackable biomarkers and precisely measures the effects of drug perturbation on disease progression. KineMed is continuing to advance techniques that can therefore be applied both to the detection of neurological disorder and to the development of truly disease-modifying, effective therapeutic strategies to address Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, ALS and other neurodegenerative conditions,” said Dr. Patrizia Fanara, Vice President of Neuroscience.

Dr. Fanara’s presentation will provide an overview of:

Rational and exploratory biomarker discovery approaches through putative linkage with pathways relevant to neurodegeneration;
Real-time indices of neuronal dysfunction and reparative processes;
Ability to measure dynamic biological and biochemical processes occurring in neurodegeneration and to move quickly from animal studies to human trials;
Information gained about the disease process from brain chemistry signatures from neurons and other cell types in humans that can be back-translated to preclinical models;
Biomarkers that can be useful to clarify disease mechanisms and to discover new diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

About KineMed, Inc.

KineMed, Inc. (http://www.kinemed.com) based in California, is a world-leader in measuring dynamic biochemical processes that cause disease. Collaboration with KineMed offers deep expertise and access to technology to accelerate and lower the cost of drug R&D, as well as enabling new disease-modifying therapies, and the diagnosis and monitoring of patients. KineMed’s patented mass spectrometric technologies measure molecular fluxes in living tissues through the complex molecular and cellular networks that are responsible for disease.

KineMed’s field-leading technologies include Network Dynamics which offers the ability to measures changes in the dynamics of hundreds of proteins, to enable diagnosis and monitoring of cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, metabolic and other disorders from a drop of blood; and the Kinetic Microscope which displays spatial organization of metabolic fluxes in histopathologic specimens to provide functional signatures of disease in situ.

KineMed’s established programs with premier pharmaceutical collaborators address critical challenges facing drug discovery:

•Focus on causes rather than symptoms: Generating pivotal knowledge for developing blockbuster drugs, by targeting underlying biochemical causes

•Systems biology approach: Insight into intact living systems, rather than simplified models, ensures that drug effects are understood in their intended biological context

•Reduce late-stage attrition: Early, decision-relevant metrics of drug activity separate winners from losers and reduce later failures to improve the NPV of R&D spend

•Powerful assays of disease state: Custom-developed assays create companion diagnostic tests for personalized medicine

KineMed is seeking broad collaborations with pharmaceutical, CRO, histopathology, diagnostics, medical instruments and biotechnology partners.

About the GTCbio 5^th Annual Neurodegenerative Diseases Drug Discovery Conference

At GTCbio’s 5th Annual Neurodegenerative Diseases Drug Discovery Conference, leading scientists and experts will discuss the latest breakthroughs, new drug targets, new models, the development of new biomarkers, imaging modalities, and several other novel developments and therapeutics to combat neurodegenerative conditions.

For more information, please visit: http:/www.gtcbio.com