PUBLIC FUNDING OF NOK 6 MILLION FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A PARKINSON TEST

DiaGenic has been granted NOK 6 million by the Norwegian Research Council`s BIA funds. The grant will be used in an industry-oriented research project for the development of a diagnostic test for Parkinson’s disease.

Research Director in DiaGenic, Dr. Anders Lönneborg, comments:”The Norwegian Research Council has in the past contributed with significant funding for DiaGenic’s development of diagnostic tests for breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. This new funding for Parkinson’s disease represents both an important recognition of our past research efforts and an important financial contribution.”

The duration of the project with the title:”A gene expression signature for the early detection of Parkinson disease” will span over 4 years and total funding is NOK 5.97 million.

In 2007 DiaGenic, in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, was awarded funding from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for development of a biomarker for Parkinson’s disease. This grant by the Norwegian Research Council will initiate a new project which will build on the achievements from the Michael J. Fox Foundation funded project.

CEO of DiaGenic, MD PhD Erik Christensen, comments: “Early diagnosis with subsequent medical treatment will increase quality of life for the patient and delay the disease onset. A blood based diagnostic test may prove advantageous for pharmaceutical companies in optimising patient inclusion in clinical studies as part of developing new drugs which will reverse or stop the disease. The new external funding implies that the development of DiaGenic’s third product candidate can continue in parallel with our core activities which is sales and marketing of our breast cancer and Alzheimer’s tests.”

Contact person:
Erik Christensen, CEO
Telephone: + 47 95939918
E-mail: erik.christensen@diagenic.com