Protagen AG, a specialist in in-vitro diagnostics and GMP-compliant protein analysis announced that they will be using the UNIarray Platform to help discover biomarkers in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis for Biogen Idec, Inc.

Under the terms of the agreement, Protagen will apply it’s UNIarray technology platform and expertise in autoantibody research to support retrospective analysis of samples from a Biogen Idec clinical trial for the purpose of finding predictive and response biomarkers associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy.

“There is an acute need to discover possible response and non-response biomarkers in MS using genomic and proteomic level markers,” said Dr. Peter Schulz-Knappe, CSO of Protagen AG. “Autoantibody signatures play an increasingly important role as a technology platform that could be used to identify patients for optimized treatment efficacy and to monitor disease progression.”

“Pharmaceutical companies recognize more and more the importance of autoantibody signatures for drug development, and Protagen provides the right technology and unique expertise for collaborations in this area”, said Dr. Stefan Müllner, CEO.

UNIarray is a unique technology platform for the development of novel diagnostics based on indication specific autoantibody patterns in patient sera. These indication specific autoantibody patterns were already proven to be present in several autoimmune diseases, but also in cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. The systematic and indication-specific determination of autoantibody patterns will serve as a powerful basis to address hitherto unmet diagnostic needs. UNIarray serves as platform for the development of product specific companion diagnostics and patient stratification tools for clinical studies.

Protagen AG is an international leading specialist in the fields of in-vitro diagnostics and GMP-compliant protein analysis. The innovations of Protagen are UNIarray, a technology platform for the development of novel serum based diagnostics, as well as UNIchip, a versatile product family of protein microarrays for faster development of antibodies.