Ciphergen Biosystems KK, a joint venture of Ciphergen Biosystems Inc and SC BioSciences, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, announced the opening of a Biomarker Discovery Center to serve the clinical proteomics needs of its customers in Japan.
Modeled after successful centers established beginning in 2000 by Ciphergen Biosystems in California, Pennsylvania and Denmark, the Biomarker Discovery Center in Japan will provide accelerated biomarker discovery and validation services in pharmaceutical drug discovery, pharmacology, toxicology and clinical trials studies.The Japan Biomarker Discovery Center is equipped with multiple ProteinChip Biomarker Systems, Biomek robotics to enhance throughput and reproducibility, and a Tandem Mass Spectrometer outfitted with a ProteinChip Interface. This center will enjoy first access to next generation products that are being developed by Ciphergen.
Most importantly, the Biomarker Discovery Center will be staffed by PhD and M.D. level scientists who are experts in the use of the SELDI ProteinChip System for protein biomarker discovery and clinical trials using differential protein expression and pattern recognition analysis, protein characterization and identification, protein interaction studies and assay development.The Japan Biomarker Discovery Center is located at Ciphergen Biosystems KK's recently expanded laboratory facilities in Yokohama.
William E. Rich, Ciphergen's CEO commented, "We have found in the United States and in Europe that our customers truly benefit from a local biomarker center with the ability to discover new biomarkers, run validation studies rapidly on their behalf, and then have the flexibility to transfer the technology in-house through ProteinChip System purchases to enable their own on-site programs."
Toru Umehara, President of Ciphergen Biosystems KK, added, "We are pleased to now be providing Biomarker Discovery Center collaborative services to meet the needs of our growing customer base in Japan.This allows us to provide a complete solution to the protein research needs of our pharmaceutical and academic customers."