G3 and Caprion partner on GLOBAL cardiovascular study

Single largest prospective pan-omic study will investigate blood- based protein biomarkers and drug targets

Lloyd Dunlap
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RICHMOND, Va.—Global Genomics Group (G3) and Montreal-based Caprion Proteomics Inc. have entered into a collaboration agreement to investigate biological networks and pathways in order to discover novel biomarkers and pharmaceutical targets for cardiovascular diseases. Under the leadership of Dr. Szilard Voros, G3 is leading a large prospective clinical study called GLOBAL (Genetic LOci and Burden of Atherosclerotic Lesions). Under the terms of the agreement, Caprion will identify blood-based protein markers for the GLOBAL study. GLOBAL is said to be the largest pan-omic study combining genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics and lipoprotein proteomics with coronary computed tomographic (CT) angiography, an advanced imaging technology for phenotyping, which allows precise disease classification of patients.
 
The study aims at discovering novel biomarkers and pharmaceutical targets for cardiovascular diseases, with an emphasis on atherosclerosis. GLOBAL will look at 7,500 patients, using a systems biology approach, reportedly making it the largest “multi-omics” study ever performed. Caprion is responsible for handling the proteomic component of the study, using its robust, industrialized mass spectrometry-based platform. Caprion will perform the work in multiple phases.
 
“We will analyze 22 trillion data points from the precise CT phenotyping and the pan-omic analyses with specifically developed systems and biology-based bioinformatics, allowing us to understand the root causes of cardiovascular disease and ultimately enable us to identify novel diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets,” says Voros, who is CEO and co-founder of G3. “Caprion’s unbiased and targeted mass spectrometry-based proteomic platform will provide an in-depth assessment of plasma proteins to complement the other ‘omic’ approaches we are using in the GLOBAL study.”
 
Caprion, which had not worked with G3 previously, was selected by G3 as the proteomics partner for the GLOBAL study following a rigorous evaluation process by G3 of the proteomics technologies, processes and capabilities of Caprion and several alternative proteomics technologies and service providers.
 
Caprion will utilize its CellCarta technology, an industrialized proteomic platform designed for large-scale studies, which is composed of sample preparation, mass spectrometry, bioinformatics and biological expertise, to analyze and measure differential expression of proteins in plasma samples from the patients enrolled in GLOBAL.
 
In the first phase, which has already started, the team will use Caprion’s proprietary proteomics approach for unbiased protein biomarker discovery to profile several hundred samples from patients and controls in order to identify blood proteins that are differentially regulated between various conditions. To achieve maximum detection rate, each sample will be fractionated before analysis by mass spectrometry using Caprion’s standard operating procedures. Statistical analysis will then be performed to identify as candidate biomarkers or targets those blood proteins whose change in their levels correlates with the condition of the subjects.
 
After jointly reviewing the results with G3, Caprion will then develop a multiplexed targeted assay to analyze up to 150 candidate biomarkers in the remainder of the samples from the 7,500 patients. This multiplexed assay uses a mass spectrometry-based method called multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) and allows for the simultaneous measurement of hundreds of proteins in a single analysis, from a small volume of plasma or serum. MRM offers a powerful approach to rapidly and cost-effectively look at a large number of proteins in order to assess which subset of those will prove useful. This phase is a critical one for a study such as GLOBAL, as it represents a first step toward the validation of biomarkers. Caprion will use the assay to independently analyze the samples in several independent subsets, allowing G3 to assess how each biomarker performs alone or in combination with other biomarkers.
 
“Caprion is pleased to collaborate with G3,” commented Martin LeBlanc, president and CEO of Caprion, “and we are proud to leverage our expertise in large-scale proteomics and personalized medicine to contribute to this landmark effort in such a clinically relevant field.”
 
G3 is a life-sciences company investigating biological networks that lead to the development of disease to identify novel diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. G3 combines precision phenotyping with pan-omics and bioinformatics to investigate the development and progression of conditions such as atherosclerosis in cardiovascular disease.
 
Privately held Caprion is a leading provider of proteomics and immune monitoring services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Its proprietary proteomics technology, CellCarta, is a gel-free, label-free mass spectrometry platform that enables a comprehensive, quantitative and robust comparative measurement of proteins across large sets of biological samples for the discovery and validation of protein biomarkers. Its proprietary immune monitoring platform, ImmuneCarta, offers multiparametric flow cytometry analysis for functional analyses of innate and adaptive immune responses. With research sites in Montreal in Canada as well as Menlo Park, Calif, Caprion has been providing large-scale proteomics and immune monitoring services to over 50 major pharmaceutical and biotech clients for more than 10 years.
 
 
Caprion Proteomics Inc.
http://www.caprion.com
 
Global Genomics Group (G3)
http://www.globalgenomicsgroup.com

Lloyd Dunlap

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