Ymir Genomics and the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute to collaborate on urinary exosomal biomarkers

Ymir Genomics, LLC (Ymir) and the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science University, OHSU, today announced a strategic collaboration to develop urinary biomarkers that will help detect hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in at-risk patient populations. The collaboration will exploit Ymir’s proprietary urinary extracellular vesicle technology and the expertise of the Knight Cancer Institute supported OHSU Proteomics Shared Resource. Ymir will isolate extracellular vesicles and analyze miRNA profiles of urine samples from liver cancer patients and high-risk cirrhotic patient controls provided by OHSU. OHSU will take the same vesicle preps and determine protein profiles. A collaboration agreement and IRB are approved and a pilot study is underway, funded by a Medical Research Foundation of Oregon Early Clinical Investigator Award Grant to Dr. Christina Binder.

“We are honored to work with OHSU. They have assembled a spectacular team of clinicians and researchers including Dr. Charles Thomas (Team Leader), Dr. Scott Naugler (Liver Disease Diagnostics/Treatment), Dr. Ashok Reddy (Proteomics Shared Resource) and Dr. Christina Binder (Radiation Medicine Resident),” commented P. Shannon Pendergrast, Chief Science Officer at Ymir Genomics, LLC. “With our technology and OHSU’s considerable expertise, I am confident that we can find these much-needed biomarkers. Imagine at-risk patients monitoring their liver health by simply dropping a urine sample into the mail.  The stability of exosomes in urine makes this possible.”

“It’s exciting to be collaborating with the team at Ymir on this project. This is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished when bringing basic scientists, clinicians, and industry together,” says Dr. Larry David, Director of the OHSU Proteomics Shared Resource.  “The work dovetails quite well with the major research goal of the Knight Cancer Institute, which is to be able to detect cancers earlier so they can be more effectively treated.”

Source – PR Newswire