Spotlight Clinical, Medical & Diagnostic Products Screening Library Advances Drug Discovery Research at Temple University’s Moulder Centre
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc has announced that the Moulder Centre for Drug Discovery Research at Temple University’s School of Pharmacy has selected the company’s Maybridge screening libraries to identify compounds that might be useful in treating health problems as diverse as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and drug dependency. Thermo Fisher will provide the Moulder Centre with a custom compound library based initially on the 14,000-strong HitFinder™ collection. This library will be used within the university as well as by its continually expanding list of academic, pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. The Moulder Centre is led by Dr Magid Abou-Gharbia, a highly respected scientist whose work in the drug discovery field has produced five FDA-approved therapeutics. The centre conducts in-house research using its state- of-the-art laboratory facilities. These studies are currently focused on the identification of compounds targeting drug addiction and withdrawal symptoms as well as the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Each is built on a foundation of rational design that is based on ‘Lipinski's Rule of Five’, which utilises both computer aided analysis and high-throughput screening assays.
With an expanded Maybridge HitFinder library of more than 20,000 candidate molecules, the team at the Moulder Centre hopes to screen a wide range of compounds. “We needed a large but manageable library that was still flexible enough to meet the needs of our drug discovery programs and those of our collaborators,” said Dr Abou-Gharbia. “We aim to expand the already excellent HitFinder library by taking advantage of the extensive range of related compounds offered by the Maybridge service. The Maybridge experts provided exceptional technical and data support, making it easy to add the new molecules to our collection database.”
In addition to conducting its own research, the Moulder Centre collaborates with many research partners, using its expertise and resources to enrich and expand their drug discovery pipelines. “One of our primary aims is to provide a conduit that helps researchers move forward from their exciting early stage research and turn their discoveries into drugs to treat disease,” said Dr Abou-Gharbia. “Plugging this gap will help to ensure that research laboratories, especially those in the academic sector, have the support they need to move efficiently and accurately through the drug discovery process.”
Circle no. 428
New Test to Aid in Leukemia Patient Prognosis
Cytocell announced the launch of its latest FISH probe to aid in determining the prognosis of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a cancer of the lymphocytes.
Cytocell’s Aquarius® P53/ATM Probe Combination
detects cytogenetic abnormalities in bone marrow specimens and peripheral blood samples from patients with CLL. Deletions of ATM and TP53 are the most serious rearrangements involved in CLL and detection of deletions of these genes provides very important information as to the therapy choices for such patients especially since deletions of TP53 and ATM provide a poor prognosis.
CLL is the most common form of leukemia in the U.S. and Europe and is most commonly found in Caucasian men 60 years and older. In the United States, more than 15,000 patients are diagnosed with CLL each year, many of whom are discovered during routine medical exams. CLL progresses more slowly than other types of leukemia and most patients diagnosed with CLL have early-stage disease. Up to 50% are at risk for accelerated progression while others live for many years and often do not require therapy.
“This new addition to our catalogue augments our already extensive collection of FISH probes for leukaemia and provides a ‘two in one’ solution to the diagnosis of CLL,” said Dr Martin Lawrie, Managing Director of Cytocell.
“The launch of this product demonstrates our continued focus on our range of Haematology probes which is continually growing. We also believe that through our new Custom FISH probe service, myProbes, we will be able to offer more and more of such products for Haematology, driven by the clinical requirements of our customers.“
Although previously difficult to detect, the advent of FISH analysis of interphase cells of patients with B-CLL showed that around 17% of patients with the disease have deletions of the TP53 gene. Additionally, the protein kinase ATM (Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated) gene located in 11q22.3 is also frequently deleted in cases of B-CLL.
To aid detection of these common deletions of B-CLL they have combined their existing P53 and ATM probes into a new P53/ATM Probe Combination that may be used as an aid in determining disease prognosis in combination with additional biomarkers, morphology and other clinical information. The Cytocell Aquarius®
P53/ATM Probe Combination is not
intended for use in selection of therapy or in monitoring of residual disease.
Circle no. 430
Fully Connected Blood Glucose Testing Saves Time and Improves Patient Care
Point of Care (POC) blood glucose testing at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust is managed centrally at Derriford Hospital through the powerful POC data management solution from Roche, cobas IT 1000. This makes it much quicker and easier to access results and additional information stored on each system, improving quality control and enhancing the care of patients.
The Trust’s Accu-Chek Inform II blood glucose meters, located across a number of sites within the acute Trust and in the community, are linked to cobas IT 1000 via wireless or hard wired connections. Section Lead for POC testing and EQA at Derriford Hospital, Tony Cambridge, explained: “With cobas IT 1000, the POC team is able to coordinate their activities centrally, rather than waiting to find potential problems on their rounds. This allows us to focus our efforts more effectively and to react promptly when any issues occur.”
“cobas IT 1000 has also helped to improve quality control. Only trained users can access the meters, which improves the quality and safety of results, and we can assess competency when the user’s certification expires. The ability to monitor QC from afar has been particularly useful with outlying areas. Rather than relying on paper records, which may not be filled out appropriately, all results are sent to us electronically.”
Immediate access to patient results by authorised personnel and the reporting functionality of cobas IT 1000 has also been invaluable at Plymouth. “Results from the Inform II meters are generated and submitted with the patient demographics, and can be monitored in real time via cobas IT 1000,” continued Tony. “Data can be extracted from the software and reports can be run to determine how tight a patient’s glycaemic control has been. This information supports clinical decisions and allows the diabetes team to assess the effectiveness of treatment. The patient is undoubtedly receiving better care.”
This function has been particularly useful in the assessment of patients admitted to the Trust’s Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) at Derriford Hospital. Diabetes Nurse, Clive Vincent, commented: “cobas IT 1000 allows me to identify potential diabetes problems within the MAU. This saves me having to trawl patient notes, which can take some time and, indeed, may not be available at the time of my visit. Blood glucose is an important indicator of wellbeing in hospitalised patients. Receiving glucose levels, along with other information, on a daily basis allows us to target potential problems and to ensure specialist involvement at the earliest opportunity. Patients can therefore be treated, transferred or sent home quickly.”
Circle no. 429
Revolutionising the Worldwide Molecular Diagnostics Market
Randox Molecular Diagnostics offers a range of molecular Arrays and assay formats, providing diagnostic, prognostic and response to therapy solutions for a range of conditions including colorectal cancer, sexually transmitted infections and respiratory pathogens, with many more in development.
The versatility of the Randox multiplex PCR and proprietary Biochip Array Technology is exemplified by the broad range of array formats available. These include: SNP Genotyping - based on an innovative primer design, which can discriminate sequences which differ only at one base; Gene Expression - harnessing gene expression, particularly in a multiplex array, can provide a powerful insight into disease processes, such as cancer progression; Pathogen Detection - for rapid, sensitive, multiplex detection of viral, bacterial and protozoan pathogens; and Mutation Detection - a rapid mutation profiling array, consisting of a highly multiplexed PCR coupled to hybridisation of target DNA sequences to spatially tethered probes on a biochip array.
Our Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Array is capable of simultaneously detecting ten of the most common STIs from a single patient sample. STIs represent a serious public health issue and as many are asymptomatic, the risk of unhindered spread is increased. Simultaneous screening for multiple STIs will identify specific viral, protozoan or bacterial pathogens therefore permitting targeted therapy whilst also detecting secondary infections.
The Respiratory Pathogens Array simultaneously detects up to 22 viral and bacterial infectious agents of the respiratory tract from Bronchoalveolar lavage, Nasopharyngeal swab, Sputum or Saliva. By detecting both viral and bacterial pathogens simultaneously, this array provides a rapid and more cost effective diagnostic tool than existing methods, the majority of which only look for single pathogens.
Personalised cancer medicine based on genetic profiling of individual tumours is regarded as the treatment strategy of the future. In respect of this, Randox Molecular Diagnostics will soon be launching a KRAS/BRAF/PIK3CA Array for the rapid and accurate detection of mutations to stratify patients for anti-EGFR-targeted therapy. This is important, as recent clinical evidence indicates that in addition to KRAS mutational status, other molecular alterations such as BRAF and PIK3CA mutations can occur in a tumour, precluding response to anti-EGFR therapy.
Circle no. 431
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
