nederlands
english02 - UHasselt | BIOMED
Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death in Europe, costing the European community 196 billion euros per year.
Within the Euregional project 'TransTechDiagnostics' we want to convert laboratory setups, which can demonstrate early indicators of cardiovascular disease, into potential diagnostic tools or kits that can diagnose patients as early as possible. These kits are developed in collaboration with preferably local companies.
In the first part of TTD some developed tests that are eligible for risk analysis were listed and evaluated together with the TTD partners. A biomarker for early inflammation, developed at UHasselt/BIOMED, was included in the valorization as an important parameter for risk analysis. Due to the diagnostic potential of this early biomarker, UHasselt/BIOMED is currently investigating the patentability of this biomarker measurement. This method, which was previously developed at UHasselt/BIOMED, is the only one worldwide that can measure this biomarker in patient samples (e.g. serum). In order to strengthen and anchor this valorizable knowledge in the region, the joint infrastructure was expanded. At UHasselt the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) platform was extended and optimized for the research of extracellular vesicles considering their importance as early indicators for cardiovascular diseases.
At Interreg, cooperation with private partners is considered of eminent importance. Currently, several Flemish companies (e.g. apDia and Fox Biosystems) have shown interest in developing commercial tests for this promising biomarker, which can be used in clinical laboratories.
The obtained results clearly illustrate that we use complementary knowledge and expertise from both public and private institutions in the ‘Grensregio’ in the project 'Trans Tech Diagnostics'. In this context, Fox-Biosystems, a start-up company in the nanotechnology medical biosensor that, together with UHasselt, wants to develop biosensor solutions within TTD, and will start to work as a PPL within TTD on the development of a convenient and affordable biosensor for this unique marker from 2019 onwards.
