The research of the Austrian SME, a spin-off from the Medical University of Innsbruck, focuses on the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic applications regarding the human plasma protein Afamin, a member of the albumin-gene family. Afamin is a multi-functional protein expressed mainly by the liver and secreted into the blood stream. The SME was the first to discover a specific transport function of Afamin for the important anti-oxidant Vitamin E. It has developed competitive technologies including high-throughput protein quantification, modern cell culture and animal models for diagnosis of reproductive organ tumours and diagnosis and treatment of human fertility, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.

The company has accumulated unique knowledge on the serum protein Afamin which plays a central role in these diseases.
The company has developed and established an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) kit for quantifying Afamin as a novel diagnostic tool for early, improved and specific detection of ovarian and testicular cancers. The ELISA kit for ovarian cancer diagnosis is now ready, recently released for early market laboratory use and has already been successfully tested in about 3,000 patients. Afamin plasma concentrations have been shown to be significantly reduced in both groups of cancer compared to healthy controls. Two million patients worldwide are diagnosed with cancers affecting their reproductive organs each year. Early diagnosis is critical for prognosis and treatment. Therefore, an affordable diagnosis method and a more exact early detection of this cancer using the Afamin ELISA Kit will substantially increase the success rate of cancer therapy, improve patients' prognosis, prolong and secure their contribution to society, save costs for longer treatment attempts and improve patient's quality of life. The overall annual worldwide market for total tumour diagnostic products is about $25 billion. Approximately 25% is spent on the detection of tumours in reproductive organs alone. The company's ovarian cancer kit will win a substantial share of the current market, when final approval for the US, EU and Asian markets is obtained. Competitor's products have two disadvantages, namely lower accuracy (clinically obsolete) and higher cost.

Afamin has also been shown in two independent population-based studies to be causally associated with cardiovascular diseases leading to the modern epidemic Metabolic Syndrome which affects 50 million people in the US alone. Metabolic Syndrome is an increasingly important multifactorial pathophysiological condition leading to modern epidemic diseases such as diabetes and other cardiovascular complications.
The SME's findings will enable a single-marker diagnosis for this pathological condition and eventually lead the way to an effective therapy. The company has also developed a mouse model overexpressing Afamin to study possible therapeutic approaches.

Finally, its research has resulted in the discovery of neuroprotective properties of Afamin in suitable in vitro systems. Furthermore, it could be demonstrated, in specialised cell culture models mimicking the blood-brain barrier, that Afamin substantially facilitates the transport of vitamin E across the blood-brain barrier. When confirmed in vivo in suitable animal systems, these findings may result in further therapeutic applications fighting neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Innovative Aspects:
The SME's focus is the application of state-of-the-art technologies to explore medically relevant applications for the vitamin E binding Afamin.
Its core competence is the usability of basic research results for immediate medical application (both diagnostic and therapeutic).
Company offers therapeutic tools and kits to fight important modern diseases, e.g cancer of the reproductive organs, infertility, neurodegeneration and Metabolic Syndrome:

- fully developed, readily (commercially) available diagnostic kit
- proof of concept obtained in numerous studies
- high accuracy
- lower costs in comparison to competitors products

 

Patents/Rights: Patent(s) granted

Type of Organisation: