Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Applied BioMedicine group announced an expansion of a previously established biomarker research collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. The initial collaboration with Vertex was announced in March 2006.

The expanded collaboration announced will continue to apply Caprion's CellCarta proteomics biomarker technology across preclinical and clinical development activities being conducted by Vertex.

"We believe this expanded collaboration reflects the interest of biotechnology companies to integrate biomarker discovery efforts into major drug development programs," noted Dr. Daniel Chelsky, executive vice-president and chief scientific officer at Caprion. "Caprion is pleased with the progress made under the original collaboration with Vertex, and we look forward to further broadening the collaboration in the coming months."

Caprion's proprietary proteomics platform comprehensively profiles proteins and provides an unprecedented level of protein expression and identification in tissues and blood plasma. Caprion is presently conducting biomarker discovery programs in other indications for several pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and its own clinical programs.

Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing pharmaceutical products in the areas of infectious disease and oncology. The company's clinical-stage programs include Shigamabs, a product for the treatment of Shigatoxin-producing bacterial infections, and CAP-232, a targeted therapy with potential efficacy in multiple oncology indications.