GARDprotein demonstrates exceptional ability to identify allergens in foodstuff – new research results presented at scientific conference.
Lund, 10th October 2017 – SenzaGen (Nasdaq First North: SENZA) today announces positive results from an evaluation of GARDprotein, a test method which is developed to make it possible to eliminate allergenic proteins from today's and tomorrow's foodstuffs. GARDprotein has the potential to open up a new market for SenzaGen's test platform. The results are being presented at the 3rd ImpARAS Conference in Helsingør, Denmark.
The results being reported at the conference show that GARDprotein has a unique ability to distinguish two almost identical proteins, one allergenic and the other non-allergenic. Allergy-inducing shrimp tropomyosin was correctly classified in the test as a protein allergen, while non-allergenic pork tropomyosin was correctly classified as a non-allergenic substance. A test method with this high precision and reliability can reduce the risk that foodstuffs are incorrectly categorized as allergenic or that their allergy-inducing properties are not detected in time.
This further evidence of the accuracy and reliability of a GARD test demonstrates the potential of SenzaGen's technology platform with its associated pipeline of upcoming tests.
GARDprotein targets an important part of the market for cell-based in vitro toxicology tests, whose total size is estimated at 5.4 billion Euros in 2016.
"Many people are allergic to shrimp, while allergy to pork is extremely rare. GARDprotein is able to distinguish two almost identical proteins - the allergenic shrimp tropomyosin and the non-allergenic pork tropomyosin. This demonstrates additional test capabilities and opens a new potential market for us, as it can make our test a valuable future tool in the assessment of foodstuff's allergy-inducing properties," says SenzaGen CEO Anki Malmborg Hager.
The development of GARDprotein is supported by several industry partners and research institutes, including HESI PATC (the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute, Protein Allergenicity Technical Committee) consisting of Dupont, Syngenta and others. SenzaGen expects to launch the test in 2021, provided validation is successful.
ImpARAS (Improving Allergy Risk Assessment Strategy for New Food Proteins) is an interdisciplinary European scientific network dedicated to the development of more predictive methods for assessing proteins' allergenic properties. Robin Gradin, industrial doctoral student at SenzaGen, will present the results of the GARDprotein evaluation today on 10th October 2017.
For more information:
Anki Malmborg Hager, CEO, SenzaGen AB
Email: anki.malmborg.hager@senzagen.com
Telephone: +46 768 284822
About GARD
GARD™ is a group of tests for assessing chemical skin sensitizers. The tests make use of genetic biomarkers for more than 200 genes which cover the entire immune reaction and are relevant to predicting the risk of hypersensitivity. The tests have up to 90% reliability. This compares with the current predominant test method, experiments on mice, which has an accuracy of 70-75%. SenzaGen's tests are also capable of measuring the potency of a substance's allergenic properties. Consequently, GARD™ tests provide a much more comprehensive basis for determining whether a substance should be classified as an allergen than current testing methods.
About SenzaGen
SenzaGen makes it possible to replace animal experiments with in vitro genetic testing to determine the allergenicity of the chemicals we come into contact with in our daily lives, such as for example in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food products and dyes. The company's patented tests are the most reliable on the market and provide more information than traditional evaluation methods. We ourselves sell the tests in Sweden and the USA, and we sell through partners in several other countries. Over the next few years the company will expand geographically, make alliances with more distribution partners and launch further unique tests. SenzaGen has its headquarters in Lund in Sweden and a subsidiary in San Francisco, USA. For more information visit www.senzagen.com
The information was provided by the contact person for publication on October 10 at 11:00.