Fluofarma : Publication in Analytical Chemistry

Bordeaux (France) – December 1, 2009 - Fluofarma announces publication in the journal “Analytical Chemistry” on its recombinant differential anchorage probes technology for high content screening.


Fluofarma, a leading company in High Content Screening (HCS) technologies, which offers services and consultancy to the Pharmaceutical industry, announced today the publication in the international scientific journal “Analytical Chemistry”, of the original article "Recombinant differential anchorage probes that tower over the spatial dimension of intracellular signals for high content screening and analysis”.

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About Fluofarma :

Fluofarma is a privately-held contract service provider which offers High Content Screening (HCS) services and technologies for target and drug discovery, predictive toxicity testing. The company was created in 2003 by a team of scientists with in-depth, expertise in oncology, neurobiology and chemistry. Since its inception, Fluofarma has developed innovative technologies designed for automated flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and laser scanning cytometry to improve the level of understanding of compounds and their effects, from the earliest stage of the discovery process onwards.

Fluofarma’ services include:
- Development & miniaturization of cell-based assays,
- Functional screening for target and drug discovery,
- Compound profiling and mechanism of action studies,
- Predictive toxicity testing at a large scale.

The company is headquartered in Bordeaux, France, and now works with over 30 major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide... Fluofarma's Press Release -

Neovacs : ...safety, immunogenicity and therapeutic effect of the company's Kinoid approach...

Paris, November 26, 2009 - Neovacs' preliminary clinical trial results (presented at the GASTRO conference) are supportive of the safety, immunogenicity and therapeutic effect of the company's Kinoid approach; clinical testing is to be expanded - Neovacs, a biotechnology company developing proprietary immunotherapeutics for autoimmune and chronic diseases, released a summary of the presentation made by Chief Medical Officer Pierre Vandepapeliere at the GASTRO 2009 conference in London, UK. The presentation featured preliminary data from the ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial of Neovacs' TNFα Kinoid active immunotherapy in Crohn’s Disease patients.


The Phase I/II study is testing three different dose levels of the Kinoid in patients with moderate to severe Crohn’s Disease. Thirteen patients out of a planned total of 21 have been recruited to date. The study's primary objective is to assess the Kinoid's safety and its ability to induce an immune response to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα). A secondary objective is to look at the therapeutic effect as measured by the clinical disease score and markers of disease activity... [PDF] Neovacs' Press Release - PDF du communiqué de presse de Neovacs -

About Neovacs :

Neovacs, a spin-off from Pierre & Marie Curie University in Paris, is a biotechnology company focused on an active immunotherapy technology platform, with applications in autoimmune diseases and other chronic conditions. It was founded by Professor Daniel Zagury, MD, one of the world’s leading immunologists.

The Company’s lead program, an immunotherapy targeting certain inflammatory diseases, is currently in a Phase 1/2 study in subjects with Crohn’s Disease. This product candidate is also the subject of a collaboration with the diagnostics company BMD, with the objective of developing the theranostic tools to permit personalized care. The clinical program has received substantial public funding support from Oséo ISI... About Neovacs -

Aterovax : sPLA2 Activity Test significantly improves prediction of cardiovascular events in the PEACE large scale prospective study

Aterovax SA, a company developing innovative products for atherosclerosis, announced at the AHA scientific sessions (November 14-18, 2009, Orlando, USA) data demonstrating that its blood test for secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) activity significantly improves cardiovascular risk prediction in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) over a 5 year period, independent of established risk markers, including C-reactive protein.

sPLA2 is a family of pro-inflammatory enzymes liked to the formation and destabilization of atherosclerotic plaques. Aterovax's sPLA2 activity test was used in 3778 patients in the PEACE (Prevention of Events with Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibition) trial and the results were presented at the American Heart Association's annual scientific sessions... Aterovax's Press Releases -

About Aterovax

Aterovax is an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of its own portfolio of innovative products for a better diagnostic, prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis. This pathological condition underlies several important adverse vascular events including coronary artery disease, stroke and peripheral arterial disease, and is responsible for most of the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the developed and under development countries today... About Aterovax -

DNA Therapeutics : award of the Antony Bernard Foundation against Cancer

October 23, 2009, Dr. Marie Dutreix, co-inventor of siDNA technology and co-founder of DNA Therapeutics, received an award of the Antony Bernard Foundation against Cancer in union with the General Council of the Department Oise, the Municipality of Beauvais and the Committee of the Oise League against Cancer. DNA Therapeutics' Press releases -

DNA Therapeutics' mission & strategy :

DNA Therapeutics S.A. is a privately-owned, emerging biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of life-saving therapeutics to combat treatment-resistant cancers. It is founded on a uniquely positioned breakthrough technology, siDNA, which deals with DNA repair pathways as a global target, instead of targeting a key gene/protein whatever its biological importance and clinical relevance. This is an innovative approach in conjunction with radio- and chemotherapies for cost effective and efficient therapeutics focused on highly unmet medical needs... DNA Therapeutics' mission & strategy -

ARGENE : release of a new real-time PCR range of products for the detection and/or the quantification of the novel 2009 Influenza A(H1N1)

ARGENE announce the release of a new real-time PCR range of products for the detection and/or the quantification of the novel 2009 Influenza A(H1N1)
The recent emergence of the novel 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) and the fast global spread of this virus highlights the urgent need for a reliable diagnostic assay to readily implement into daily routine.
Being aware of our responsibility as a key player in the domain of In Vitro Diagnostics, we immediately reacted and decided to develop a Real Time PCR assay for the diagnosis of novel 2009 Influenza A(H1N1).
Argene mobilized a dedicated team with the aim to develop a diagnostic molecular assay for the detection and/or quantification of this virus... ARGENE's Press Release - Communiqué de Presse d'ARGENE -


About Argene Biosoft

THE IN VITRO DIAGNOSTIC INDUSTRY

As a key partner of public and private medical biological analysis laboratories, the in vitro diagnostics industry provides the reagents and materials required for the analysis of blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid or any other biological sample.

ARGENE specialises in this domain and offers products and reagents for the detection of infectious agents in laboratories. These tests may be carried out for diagnostic or preventive purposes, but also as part of the follow-up of certain treatments... About Argene - A propos d'Argene Biosoft -

ResMed Acquires Laboratoires Narval

Oct. 5 - 2009 - ResMed Inc. (NYSE: RMD), a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of sleep and respiratory medical equipment, announced that it has acquired Laboratoires Narval. Based in France, Laboratoires Narval manufactures and distributes the Narval O.R.M.(TM), an innovative mandibular repositioning device (MRD) that offers a solution to patients for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), especially for those with mild OSA.

With this acquisition, ResMed adds another therapy to supplement its existing positive airway pressure-based solutions, providing a broader offering for this patient group. ResMed plans to commercialize this device in selected European markets... ResMed's Press Release -


About Laboratoires Narval

Laboratoires Narval's mission is to provide innovative therapeutic solutions to treat respiratory sleep disorders. Laboratoires Narval is a French company based in Lyon, created by Ludovic Baratier, the inventor of the O.R.M. device, Laurent Viviani, and Fabrice Paublant and backed by Aurinvest and S.H.A.M. investors.

BioPredictive : Announcing HepaTop, top 100 hepatologists

BioPredictive releases a new BETA service : HepaTop - top authors in hepatology, according to Google Scholar using Hirsch's Index (h-index)

Hepatology is a competitive medical specialty with an exponential increase of publications. Key idea of this study is to highlight key authors of the specialty, trying to identify raising stars too.

BioPredictive R&D teams have used Google Scholar to identify all the publications from AASLD authors, and the citations of these publications, in order to compute h-index from Hirsch. The index "h" (a reference for the bibliographists) represents the number of publications cited at least h times in the literature. It identifies the productive authors whose work becomes a reference. The higher h-index, the more the author is a reference...BioPredictive's Press Release - Communiqué de presse de BioPredictive -

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BioPredictive presentation

The objective of BioPredictive is to discover and develop non-invasive diagnostic tests in order to faciltate the management and treatment of patients.

After the launch of FibroTest-ActiTest in 2002, which has since become the reference standard of non-invasive diagnostic tests, BioPredictive continues to innovate with the new tests, SteatoTest, NashTest, AshTest and FibroMax... About BioPredictive - A propos de BioPredictive -

ALPHELYS Wins European Competition for Innovative Company in 2009

Octobre 20, 2009 - ALPHELYS Wins European Competition for Innovative Company in 2009.
The European competition is organized by the French Junior Chamber of Commerce.
This awards many years of great efforts of Research and Development to bring to market a n innovative platform of technologi es to improve the effectiveness of the Cancer Research and increase the chances of cure while contributing significantly to the control Health costs... ALPHELYS' Press Release - version française du communiqué de presse d'ALPHELYS -

About ALPHELYS

ALPHELYS' mission is to design, develop and market innovative solutions including instruments, software and reagents for Pathology and Cytogenetics markets.

A unique concept of Integrated Solution
In research programs as well as in routine activity, one can frequently observe important losses of efficiency intimately associated to the absence of integration between the different technologies involved. Thus, one will be able to analyze a large number of samples but oppositely will be limited by its capacity to process the data generated and make conclusions. Human and financial resources will be higher for reduced result.
ALPHELYS objective is to develop top edge solutions that will allow answering to the whole problem encountered through a complete integration between all the technologies involved.
This is the unique concept of Integrated Solution.

A significant technology expertise
For many years, ALPHELYS has known to develop an important expertise in various technology domains so as to be able to design and develop Integrated Solutions. These domains are data basing and management, image acquisition, processing, archiving and distribution, sample preparation automation.
Since recently, ALPHELYS is now developing a new expertise in reagent development in partnership with renowned biomedical research institutes.
ALPHELYS R&D team head count is 9 including PhDs and software engineers specialized in image processing and data management.

A high level of laboratory needs knowledge
To maintain a high level of expertise in its domains of activity, ALPHELYS has since the beginning concentrated its efforts on 2 markets:

• Pathology,

• Cytogenetics.

ALPHELYS has been able to cumulate along the years a very good knowledge and understanding of laboratories needs and their evolution so to anticipate future technologies needs.
For each market, ALPHELYS' strategy is to bring Integrated Solutions... about ALPHELYS - Mission d'ALPHELYS -

EUCODIS Bioscience presented enzyme offering at CPhI

October 20, 2009 - Enzyme development company EUCODIS Bioscience presented its recently launched products at CPhI, a major meeting for the pharmaceutical ingredients and services industry. CPhI 2009 took place in Madrid, Spain, from October 13-15.

In 2009, EUCODIS Bioscience has launched two products and product families: a beta-lactamase, used by leading manufacturers of antibiotics for sterility testing, and its portfolio of lipases... EUCODIS Bioscience's Press Release -

EUCODIS Bioscience overview :

EUCODIS Bioscience is an industrial biotechnology company developing high-performance enzymes for industrial applications.

The Company serves customers in the chemical, pharmaceutical, food and feed markets, offering

* development of novel or specific enzymes,
* development of whole biocatalytic processes,
* industrial-scale manufacture of enzymes... EUCODIS Bioscience's overview -

MilleGen : publication of a paper in Nucleic Acids Research

August 2009, MilleGen announces the publication of a paper entitled "Alternative-splicing-based bicistronic vectors for ratio-controlled protein expression and application to recombinant antibody production" in Nucleic Acids Research (constructs that allow a ratio-controlled expression of proteins of interest in stably transfected cell lines. [PubMed]

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About

MilleGen S. A. established in October 1999 is a french biotech company specialized in discovery and genetic engineering of antibody.

MilleGen won the national research innovation agency (ANVAR) prize for two consecutive years, 1999 and 2000. The initial goal of MilleGen was to use its proprietary MutaGen technology (a Direct Molecular Evolution technology) to establish a protein diversity platform essential for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies developing novel proteins for use as therapeutic agents, in diagnostics or for industrial or agricultural applications.

Since 2002, MilleGen has focused on antibodies, their engineering and their development as therapeutic and/or diagnostic molecules. This evolution has been supported by advances in the monoclonal antibodies field in terms of their use as therapeutic molecules as well as in the development of new engineering technologies.

In line with this evolution, MilleGen has developed a technological platform dedicated to the identification and development of fully human antibodies destined for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. The tools developed by MilleGen allow an intervention at all stages of antibody development, from the generation of the candidate antibody up to the production of the whole antibody via phases of optimisation by genetic engineering.


Through the technological platform for antibody development, MilleGen strives to be internationally renowned as a major player in the design of therapeutic proteins (new therapeutic targets) and more particularly of human recombinant antibodies on behalf of pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and also in the development of its own molecules... (About MilleGen)

TxCell : The collaboration project with TxCell, TcLand, INSERM U844/CHRU Montpellier, has been approuved

July , 2009 - The collaboration project with TxCell, TcLand, INSERM U844/CHRU Montpellier, has been approuved by the French Public Institutions for the development of Tr1 cell-based technology in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. [Txcell's news]



About TxCell

Based in Sophia-Antipolis, a large business park near Nice in France, TxCell is a biotechnology company founded in 2001 which is developing new therapies to cure inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

The natural balance between effector T cells and regulatory T cells is essential for the immune system to control autoimmunity against self or environmental antigens.
Its dysregulation leads to uncontrolled development of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. TxCell’s strategy aims to regenerate this immunologic equilibrium by bringing type 1 T regulatory cells to the body.

Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis are autoimmune chronic diseases which require alternative shock and long-term treatments. Current drug therapy for serious cases involves steroids and immunosuppressants which broadly suppress the immune response.

TxCell’s proposed therapy aims to suppress the inflammation and induce a tolerogenic environment within the inflamed tissues by a regenerative process of the immune balance.

Thus, regulatory Tr1 cells treatment is believed to act directly at the level of the cause of autoimmune disorders, the dysregulated immune regulation.

Pharnext and Ipsen : exclusive research, development and marketing agreement

Paris (France), 15 June 2009 - The agreement concerns innovative drug candidates issued from the Pleotherapy™ technology intended for the treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease - Ipsen (Euronext : IPN), an innovation-driven global pharmaceutical Group and Pharnext SAS, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of innovative treatments, announced they have entered into an exclusive research, development and marketing agreement regarding innovative drug candidates intended for the treatment of Charcot Marie-Tooth disease, issued from the Pleotherapy™ technology. According to this agreement, Ipsen has been granted an option to Pharnext programme and subscribes to the issuing of convertible bonds of the company...

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About Ipsen
Ipsen is an innovation-driven international specialty pharmaceutical group with over 20 products on the market and a total worldwide staff of nearly 4,200. Its development strategy is based on a combination of specialty products, which are growth drivers, in targeted therapeutic areas (oncology, endocrinology and neurology), and primary care products which contribute significantly to its research financing. The location of its four Research & Development centres (Paris, Boston, Barcelona, London) and its peptide and protein engineering platform give the Group a competitive edge in gaining access to leading university research teams and highly qualified personnel. More than 800 people in R&D are dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative drugs for patient care. This strategy is also supported by an active policy of partnerships. In 2008, Research and Development expenditure was about €183 million, close to 19% of consolidated sales, which amounted to €971 million while total revenues exceeded €1 billion. Ipsen’s shares are traded on Segment A of Euronext Paris (stock code: IPN, ISIN code: FR0010259150). Ipsen’s shares are eligible to the “Service de Règlement Différé” (“SRD”) and the Group is part of the SBF 120 index.

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About Pharnext
Pharnext is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and licensing new pharmaceutical treatments based on intelligent Pleocompounds™ that form the basis of Pleodrugs™. Pharnext was founded in Paris, France in April, 2007, by Daniel Cohen, MD, PhD, his research group (composed of pioneers in genome science and technology) and Philippe Pouletty, MD (General Partner at Truffle Capital). Thanks to Truffle Capital's founding investment, strong support from OSEO, a grant from AFM (The French Muscular Dystrophy Association) and the benefits of France's research tax credit scheme, Pharnext has developed a new proprietary platform (PleotherapyTM) based on network pharmacology and which may provide a solution for the current 3/3 decline in pharmaceutical pipeline productivity. Pharnext is advised by La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild... [PDF] Ipsen's Press Release - PDF du communiqué de presse d'Ipsen -

Endotis Pharma : successful completion of phase I program with EP42675, a first in class synthetic parenteral anticoagulant

Paris (France), 19 May, 2009 - Two abstracts will be presented at the ISTH congress in July 2009 - Endotis Pharma, the biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of small-glyco drugs for applications in thrombosis and oncology, announced that EP42675 has successfully completed its Phase I program.
EP42675 is the first representative of a new class of synthetic, parenteral, antithrombotic drugs with a dual mechanism of action combining an indirect factor Xa inhibitor and a direct thrombin inhibitor in a single molecule. Thus, EP42675 inhibits both thrombin formation and activity.
EP42675 was well tolerated in 100 healthy subjects enrolled in five phase I, including single-dose and multiple ascending dose studies and a pharmacodynamic interaction study with a combination of oral aspirin and clopidogrel. The only drug-related adverse effects were minor episodes of bleedings (mostly at the injection or blood sampling site) explained by the anticoagulant activity of EP42675. Vital signs, physical examination, ECG (including the QTc interval) and safety laboratory parameters did not show any treatment-emergent clinically relevant abnormalities...

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About Endotis Pharma
Endotis Pharma is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of small-glyco drugs (heparin / heparan sulphate mimetics) for applications in thrombosis, oncology and a range of other indications. Its powerful discovery engine reduces risk by focusing on proven concepts, and by rationally designing drug candidates with the properties required for commercial success. The value of this platform is demonstrated by the breakthrough Endotis thrombosis franchise of oral and parenteral drugs in clinical and preclinical development, and a promising oncology pipeline. Endotis has 35 employees based in Paris and Lille (France)... [PDF] Endotis Pharma's Press Release - PDF du communiqué de presse d'Endotis Pharma -

CARMAT SAS : AN INNOVATIVE START-UP DEVELOPING AN ARTIFICIAL HEART

Paris, October 27, 2008 – CARMAT SAS is an innovative medtech start-up that has just been created and financed by TRUFFLE CAPITAL , EADS and the Fondation Alain Carpentier, with additional funding from the French state innovation agency OSEO . The company has been spun off of the collaboration between the renowned surgeon Professor Carpentier and EADS on implementation of biomaterials and cutting-edge technologies in the construction of an artificial heart. CARMAT intends to market a fully implantable artificial heart that will be able to provide renewed hope and quality of life to the hundreds of thousands of patients suffering in the aftermath of a massive heart attack or with late-stage heart failure and for whom standard drug therapy, ventricular assistance and/or a heart transplant have failed or are not possible... Carmat's Press Release - communiqué de presse de Carmat -

Theraclion : €8.5 million in R&D funding from OSEO

Paris, February 10, 2009 - Theraclion, the only medtech company in the world developing an innovative technology for the treatment of hyperparathyroidism1, announced that it has been granted €8.5 million in R&D funding by OSEO (the French state innovation agency) as part of the TUCE strategic industrial innovation project on elastography-guided ultrasound therapy. The ultrasound company SuperSonic Imagine will also participate in the Theraclion-driven project. The €8.5 million in funding comes as a direct, €3.5 million grant and €5 million in reimbursable advances. In all, €6.9 million of the total amount will be attributed to Theraclion, with €1.6 million going to SuperSonic Imagine. After €500,000 in 2005 and €1.3 million in 2007, this is the third time that OSEO has provided Theraclion with financial support...

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About Theraclion
The Paris-based medtech specialist Theraclion was spun out from Edap-Technomed in 2004. By leveraging its proprietary "Ultrasound Non-Invasive Surgery" ("UNIS" method), Theraclion develops, produces and commercializes devices for non-invasive, outpatient treatment of primary and secondary hyperparathyroidism. The technology uses diagnostic ultrasound to identify the target and then high-intensity ultrasound to coagulate the tissue - thus enabling patients to avoid burdensome drug treatment and the risks of surgery. Primary hyperparathyroidism has a potential market of over €300 million and secondary hyperparathyroidism corresponds to a potential of 1.5 million easily accessible patients on dialysis. As of today, Theraclion raised €5.1 million from Truffle Capital, one of its founding investor. Theraclion is primarily responding to the needs of clinics and hospitals in Europe, the United States and Asia. The company has initiated procedures for gaining market approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The United States alone represents half of the global market... [PDF] Theraclion's Press Release - PDF du communiqué de presse de Theraclion -

Pharmaleads’ PL37 lead candidate for pain enters Phase I

Paris, October 1st, 2008 - Pharmaleads has obtained from the French Medicine Agency (AFSSAPS) the authorization to perform a single ascending dose Phase I study with PL37, its lead compound for oral treatment of neuropathic pain.

Neuropathic pain is a major chronic pain condition, with an estimated prevalence in the world’s population of up to 6%, according to the most recent surveys, with many causes such as shingles, herpes, diabetes, antiviral or antitumor chemotherapy surgery, or low back disorders. Neuropathic pain does not respond well to usual painkillers. Worldwide market for neuropathic pain is estimated to reach 5 billion USD by 2010.
This compound originates from the work of Pharmaleads’ chief scientists, Professors Bernard P. Roques and Marie-Claude Fournié-Zaluski, and is a dual inhibitor of both enzymes responsible for the rapid degradation of enkephalins, the endogenous opiates. It therefore elicits an analgesic effect wherever enkephalins are produced as a response to a painful stimulus, and maintains a high level of these natural analgesic substances by preventing their rapid degradation...

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About Pharmaleads:

Pharmaleads is a pharmaceutical company focusing on research and early development of small molecules. Headquartered in Paris, France, Pharmaleads was founded in 2001 by Professors Bernard P. Roques, pharmacist and PhD in chemistry, Member of the French Academy of Sciences, and Marie-Claude Fournié-Zaluski, PhD in chemistry, both of them inventors of drugs (2 on the market). They were joined in 2004 by Thierry Bourbié, alumnus from Polytechnique and Mines, PhD from Stanford, former Deputy General Manager, Suez Group and Jean-Pierre Rogala, PhD from Agro, MBA from MIT (IBM, Suez Group). They were able to bring in their first rank international business expertise to fully unleash the world-class capabilities of the company in pharmacology and medicinal chemistry. In 2006, Michel Wurm, M.D. joined and added his extensive experience in drug and business development... Pharmaleads' Press Release -

Biosystems International : Licensing Agreement with Lohocla Research Institute to Search for Novel Alcoholism Liver Disease Biomarkers

PARIS - june 11, 2009 - Biosystems International (BSI) a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel monoclonal antibody-based diagnostics for cancer and metabolic diseases has established a licensing agreement with the Lohocla Research Corporation for the use of BSI’s patented monoclonal antibody proteomics platform for the discovery of novel alcoholism liver disease biomarkers in blood. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed...
About Biosystems International
Biosystems International (BSI) is a biotechnology company aiming to become a world leader in the discovery and development of novel diagnostics for diseases with critical unmet needs. Using our proprietary monoclonal antibody proteomics process BSI rapidly discovers novel biomarkers and corresponding antibodies in a single step. The company is currently focused on the discovery and development of diagnostic tests in the areas of cancer and metabolic diseases as well as the
development and commercialization of antibody arrays for plasma proteome profiling... [PDF] Biosystems International's Press Release -