EUR 4.3 million for new biomarker development center

Validation for Alzheimer’s Disease, COPD and Type-2 Diabetes

The Dutch Technology Foundation (STW) and seven industrial partners have awarded EUR 4.3 million to form the Biomarker Development Center, a public-private partnership to accelerate the validation and development of biomarkers. The center will focus on the development and validation of already identified biomarkers in three disease areas: Alzheimer’s Disease, COPD and Type-2 Diabetes.

Prof. Rainer Bischoff of the Analytical Biochemistry group, University of Groningen, will lead the project together with colleagues from the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam and the University Medical Center Groningen.

Validating for Alzheimer’s Disease, COPD and Type-2 Diabetes

The Biomarker Development Center will not focus on the discovery of novel biomarkers, but on the validation and development of already identified biomarkers following a rigorous selection from public and proprietary sources. Through a matrix structure, three biomarker validation technologies (high throughput sample preparation, high-sensitivity LC-MS/MS and ultrasensitive immunoassays) will be applied in three disease areas: Alzheimer’s Disease, COPD and Type-2 Diabetes.

Partnership researchers and industries

The funds are obtained from STW, part of the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NOW), combined with contributions by seven participating industrial partners of which TNO acts as independent data capture and analysis partner. Application of the output is ensured by the clinicians involved who will select and co-develop the candidate biomarkers, ensuring direct implementation in their patient care, whereas the industrial partners are first in line to commercialize the outcomes of the program.

Topsector Life Science & Health

The project objective originated from the alignment of public-private interests in the Topsector Life Science & Health, where accelerated biomarker development was identified as key factor to stimulate innovation in molecular diagnostics and personalized healthcare. Rainer Bischoff: "This grant for the Biomarker Development Center is an important first step towards further integrated biomarker research and development projects, particularly aiming at pharmaceutical industries and European funding.”