Vivione Biosciences Inc., announced today the execution of an Option Agreement with the University of Rochester to gain exclusive worldwide rights to a novel biomarker for infectious disease-related diagnostics. This acquisition is one of many steps Vivione is taking to strategically position the company's entry into the clinical diagnostics market. Through the Option Agreement, Vivione will also have the ability to obtain exclusive worldwide rights to a therapeutic peptide targeting the same molecule identified by the biomarker. During the option period, Vivione will work with researchers at the University of Rochester in the Departments of Immunology and Pulmonology in order to expand upon existing data in clinical patient populations.
Matthew Gombrich, Chief Medical Officer at Vivione said, "Published data in the journal, Blood, (as well as non-published internal data at the University of Rochester) points to overexpression of this biomarker as being an excellent indicator to help clinicians define a population of patients with increasing toxicity related to infectious disease. The added prospect of combining the therapeutic peptide, which showed a dramatic improvement in mortality in animal models, with the diagnostic test, offers an incredible opportunity for the company to address the needs of critically ill patients. The fact that we will be able to develop a combined theranostic application will only strengthen our position as we begin moving through the clinical regulatory process."
Vivione's Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Kuykendall, said, "We continue to position our RAPID-B flow cytometric platform as a viable solution in clinical microbiology for use in pathology labs aiding in the rapid detection of serious infections. The addition of the University of Rochester's biomarker on our platform could be the catalyst that launches Vivione as a leader in infectious disease diagnostics. We could not have found a better partner to help us in expanding our clinical assays than the University of Rochester. Their commitment to excellence and their willingness to provide the clinical research needed to expand the patient population data gives us the confidence necessary to move this test into our clinical pipeline and establish Vivione as a leader in the multi-billion dollar infectious disease market."
Scott Catlin, Associate Vice President for Technology Commercialization at UR Ventures, added, "The University of Rochester is pleased to partner with Vivione Biosciences. We hope this collaboration will lead to earlier detection and more effective treatment of deadly infections."
Matthew Gombrich, Chief Medical Officer at Vivione said, "Published data in the journal, Blood, (as well as non-published internal data at the University of Rochester) points to overexpression of this biomarker as being an excellent indicator to help clinicians define a population of patients with increasing toxicity related to infectious disease. The added prospect of combining the therapeutic peptide, which showed a dramatic improvement in mortality in animal models, with the diagnostic test, offers an incredible opportunity for the company to address the needs of critically ill patients. The fact that we will be able to develop a combined theranostic application will only strengthen our position as we begin moving through the clinical regulatory process."
Vivione's Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Kuykendall, said, "We continue to position our RAPID-B flow cytometric platform as a viable solution in clinical microbiology for use in pathology labs aiding in the rapid detection of serious infections. The addition of the University of Rochester's biomarker on our platform could be the catalyst that launches Vivione as a leader in infectious disease diagnostics. We could not have found a better partner to help us in expanding our clinical assays than the University of Rochester. Their commitment to excellence and their willingness to provide the clinical research needed to expand the patient population data gives us the confidence necessary to move this test into our clinical pipeline and establish Vivione as a leader in the multi-billion dollar infectious disease market."
Scott Catlin, Associate Vice President for Technology Commercialization at UR Ventures, added, "The University of Rochester is pleased to partner with Vivione Biosciences. We hope this collaboration will lead to earlier detection and more effective treatment of deadly infections."