LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Quanterix Corporation, a leader in the transformation of healthcare through its ultrasensitive single molecule testing capabilities, today announced that its Single Molecule Array technology (Simoa) was prominently featured in three recently published research papers, highlighting applications for a promising new brain biomarker never before measured in blood, referred to as neurofilament light (NFL), which was shown to be indicative of neuronal injury.
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) NFL is a sensitive marker of neuronal injury in a variety of neurodegenerative conditions. However, an important limitation is the requirement for lumbar puncture to obtain CSF – an invasive and costly procedure. For this reason, a sensitive and reliable blood biomarker of CNS injury would represent a welcome advance in both clinical and research settings. Using Quanterix’s Single Molecule Array (Simoa) technology, researchers developed an immunoassay to determine whether plasma concentrations of NFL – which are 50 times lower than those in CSF and therefore undetectable by conventional technology – might be used to measure NFL in serum. The results showed a strong correlation between the marker and disease pathology and suggests that plasma NFL may prove a valuable tool to help detect the onset of disease before symptoms are present.
Renowned researchers Kaj Blennow and Henrik Zetterberg used the NFL biomarker to demonstrate that the protein increased over the course of a season among collegiate football players compared to a control group from a non-contact sport, showing NFL’s utility as a marker of head injury. This paper, titled, “Serum Neurofilament Light in American Football Athletes Over the Course of a Season,” was recently published in The Journal of Neurotrama.
In a second paper published by EBioMedicine, titled, “Plasma Concentration of the Neurofilament Light Protein (NFL) is a Biomarker of CNS Injury in HIV Infection: A Cross-Sectional Study,” researchers used Simoa to develop an immunoassay to show that plasma NFL may prove a valuable tool to help detect the onset of disease before symptoms are present.
The third paper, published in The Annals of Clinical and Transformational Neurology titled, “Plasma Neurofilament Light Chain Predicts Progression in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy,” showed that plasma NFL is elevated in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and could be of value as a biomarker both to assist clinical diagnosis and monitor pharmacodynamic effects on the neurodegenerative process in clinical trials.
“This incredibly impactful research showcases the significant opportunity associated with our innovative technology, Simoa. The ability to detect and quantify CNS injury through a much less invasive and more accurate blood test can change the way in which we view and treat CNS injury in the future,” said Kevin Hrusovsky, CEO and Executive Chairman, Quanterix. “This is yet another proof point for Simoa’s potential to truly revolutionize healthcare. It’s also a major advancement in how we detect and diagnose CNS injuries in general, as demonstrated by these three very different applications for the same serum NFL test. We look forward to uncovering additional findings in the neurological field using this biomarker to detect and measure CNS injuries in the future and eventually developing diagnostic tests based on this groundbreaking research.”
Additional information on these three papers can be found at: www.quanterix.com/literature/publications.
About Quanterix
Quanterix is a developer of groundbreaking
tools in high definition diagnostics. Its Simoa platform uses single
molecule measurements to access previously undetectable proteins. With
this unprecedented sensitivity and full automation, Simoa offers
significant benefits to both research and clinical testing applications.
Quanterix was established in 2007 and is located in Lexington,
Massachusetts. To learn more about Quanterix and Simoa, please visit: www.quanterix.com.
Investors can access a webcast of Kevin Hrusovsky’s recent JPMorgan
presentation at: http://info.quanterix.com/watch-quanterix-jp-morgan-healthcare-presentation.
