INDIVUMED's biomarker discovery program has focused on the development of a blood-based early detection marker for colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer.

Two of INDIVUMED's biomarker discovery projects are funded by the Innovationsstiftung Hamburg. One additional biomarker project is funded by the European Commision (6th Framework Programme on Research, Technological Development and Demonstration). Using comparative patients groups, serum samples are screened for differentially expressed proteins. Subsequent prospective trials with biomarker candidates using antibody based assay systems are performed to validate potential biomarker and to develop clinical test systems. Corresponding tissue is used to analyze the biological role of cancer related biomarkers that might also be useful therapeutic targets.

In parallel, INDIVUMED is screening tissue samples from cancer patients, and possible candidate proteins are further studied in corresponding blood and/or urine samples. Again, the hospital network allows instant validation of possible marker in clinical trials.

In addition to its proteomic program INDIVUMED collaborates with Dr. Bert Vogelstein from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD. Using Indivumed's biospecimen and data resources Dr. Vogelstein's lab is developing mutant-DNA based diagnostic test systems. The "proof-of-concept" has been shown in October 2005 when a collaborative study was accomplished that demonstrated the detection of APC-mutation in plasma of 60% early stage colorectal cancer ( F. Diehl et al.: Detection and Quantification of Mutations in the Plasma of Patients with Colorectal Tumors. Proc Natl Acad Sci 102(45):16368-16373, 2005 ).

©2007 INDIVUMED GmbH