Woburn, MA, July 11, 2001
AlphaGene, Inc. announced that it has formed a
strategic research alliance with Lahey Clinic to
study the molecular genetics of prostate cancer.
This agreement will initially investigate the role
of prostate-specific carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA),
recently discovered by AlphaGene's scientists, as a
diagnostic and prognostic marker. Simultaneously,
this collaboration will examine additional genomic
and proteomic methods to understand the molecular
biology of prostate cancer, and possible treatment
monitoring protocols.
The purpose of this collaboration is to validate the
genetic sequence recently discovered by AlphaGene
and to compare the alternative splice variants of
the prostate CEA recently announced by AlphaGene.
These variants will then be evaluated versus disease
staging and metastatic disease. Since CEA is found
in the blood only when disease is present,
antibodies will be made to various regions of the
Prostate CEA in order to determine if CEA or one of
its variants is a better marker for Prostate Cancer
than Prostate Specific Antigens. AlphaGene will
provide its novel prostate CEA gene, novel gene
inventory, and expertise in microarray manufacture,
gene expression analysis, and bioinformatics to the
collaboration. The Lahey Clinic will provide tissue,
serum and metastatic tissue samples.
In the United States, according the American Cancer
Society (ACS), prostate cancer is the second most
common cancer among men and the second leading cause
of cancer death. The ACS estimates during 2001
approximately 198,100 new cases of prostate cancer
will be diagnosed in the United States and 31,500
men will die from the disease. One man in six will
be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his
lifetime, but only one man in 30 will die of this
disease. If detected at an early stage before it
metastasizes, this cancer is potentially curable.
The need for reliable, early stage marker is
paramount to combating the disease.
Peter A. Schad, Ph.D., Vice President and Chief
Scientific Officer of AlphaGene, Inc. stated,
"We are in the process of developing several
clinical relationships to enhance disease
association and validation of our oncological and
neurological novel genes. These genes were
discovered in our inventory of full-length genes.
The Lahey Clinic collaboration is very exciting due
to the large number of prostate tissue samples being
evaluated. In addition, we will explore our
inventory to look for other novel genes involved in
prostate cancer and disease staging."
Kulvinder Saini, Ph.D., Associate Director of
Oncology at AlphaGene added, "We are gratified
by this alliance, because Lahey Clinic is an
internationally recognized research institute in
basic and clinical aspects of prostate cancer. We
believe this collaboration is an excellent example
of how clinical academic medicine and corporations
focused on the life sciences can combine their
talents in the pursuit of a better understanding of
an important disease."
"As we unravel the genetic code, we will be
able to identify genetic markers and carriers of
those genes which will impact the way we follow
patients and may lead to earlier detection of
prostate cancer," said John A. Libertino, M.D.,
Chair of the Department of Urology at Lahey Clinic.
"In addition, these discoveries could lead to
further advances in gene therapy for the management
of prostate cancer."
"This collaborative effort holds the promise of
rapidly evaluating and transitioning new molecular
findings to the clinical arena. We believe such
partnerships, involving basic scientists and
clinicians, represents the best model to further
progress in this field" said Ian Summerhayes,
Ph.D, Executive Director of Research at Lahey Clinic
and Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA.
About AlphaGene, Inc.
AlphaGene, Inc. (http://www.alphagene.com)
is a privately held functional genomics company
offering products and services to biotech and
pharmaceutical companies engaged in drug discovery and
development. AlphaGene uses its large inventory of
full-length cDNAs and Bioinformatics expertise to
bridge the gap between genomics and functional
proteomics. The company focuses on differential gene
expression in degenerative neurological diseases
including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's
Diseases.
About Lahey Clinic
Lahey Clinic (http://www.lahey.org)
is a nonprofit group practice of 500 physicians and
4,000 support staff. Lahey Clinic provides primary and
specialty care at Lahey Clinic Medical Center in
Burlington, Lahey Clinic NorthShore in Peabody and
community-based practices in 20 towns throughout
eastern Massachusetts. Lahey Clinic Medical Center is
a teaching hospital for Tufts University School of
Medicine and maintains residency and fellowship
programs for more than 100 new physicians in 19
specialties. Lahey Clinic research programs encompass
more than 200 clinical trial protocols and
participation in numerous national clinical
trials.
