Company announces patented blood-based diagnostic test expanding to other autoimmune diseases as well as cancer
Company announces patented blood-based diagnostic test expanding to other autoimmune diseases as well as cancer
*IMMUNARRAY PRESENTING AT ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF RHEUMATOLOGY PROFESSIONALS ON OCT. 22*
Richmond, Va. and Rehovot, Israel, October 16, 2018 – On the heels of the release of new clinical data that underscores the effectiveness of its pioneering blood-based test for diagnosing and managing lupus, Immunarray is continuing to provide rheumatologists and physicans the most precise tool available today for ruling out the presence of lupus in their patients.
In the September 2018 issue of Rheumatology, published by the British Society of Rheumatology, Chaim Putterman, M.D., a professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y., and his colleagues found that SLE-key® results remain stable in lupus patients but that in some patients’ serological signatures may change over time, suggesting changes in the disease state in this subset of patients. Their new findings indicate that SLE-key® can be used to identify patients who have a change in their immune signatures. This follows Dr. Putterman’s 2016 study that demonstrated that SLE-key® was able to rule out the presence of lupus with 94% sensitivity, 75% specificity and 93% negative predictive value.
Meanwhile, as testing continues in the clinical community, ImmunArray’s SLE-key® continues to demonstrate clinical utility in the rheumatology setting. The company has been selected to share this information during a poster presentation at the 2018 annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals on October 22nd in Chicago.
As new data and new science continues to demonstrate the value of the platform, the company is moving to expand its capabilities beyond its initial focus on lupus. Its soon-to-be-announced Al-key® will employ the iCHIP® in the identification of patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Based on initial data, ImmunArray is also harnessing the technology in the diagnosis of cancer.
“At the same time we are seeing greater acceptance of SLE-key results in clinical practice to rule out the presence of lupus, our momentum in applying our technology in the diagnosis of other autoimmune rheumatic diseases is accelerating,” said Susan Evans, Ph.D., CEO of ImmunArray. “Early data from our blood-based testing in the area of oncology has also been encouraging, and we are exploring partnerships with major academic cancer centers to further understand the potential in diagnosing cancer using the iChip® Platform. These are exciting developments, and we are encouraged by our success to date.”
About ImmunArray
Founded in 2006, ImmunArray has developed a series of blood-based tests using its proprietary iCHIP® technology that can determine the presence of a specific set of molecular biomarkers that are linked to particular disease or condition. The company’s first commercially available test is the SLE-Key® Rule-Out Test, to definitively establish that a patient does not have Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) or lupus. ImmunArray also was a grant recipient of the GE-NFL Head Health Challenge and is now spinning out that series of assets to support a multi-modality approach with the requisite accuracy, sensitivity and specificity to determine whether or not a person has received a concussion or other forms of traumatic brain injury. Other tests for more chronic follow up in brain injury also are under development.
