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Ezose Sciences adds diagnostics capabilities

Ezose Sciences Inc., (Pine Brook, NJ), a glycomics research company, says that it has aligned its business with the Diagnostics Division of Shionogi & Co., Ltd. As part of this new alignment, Kiyoshi Nagata, Ph.D., has been named Chairman and CEO of Ezose. The appointment follows the acquisition of full ownership of Ezose by Shionogi & Co., Ltd. Ezose offers glycomics capabilities ranging from glycan analytics and biomarker discovery to diagnostic development and commercialization. The company tailors these capabilities to the needs of corporate partners under collaborative R&D and analytical-services agreements.

Biodesix receives award

Personalized medicine company Biodesix  is the recipient of the Frost & Sullivan’s 2011 North American Cancer Diagnostics Product Differentiation Excellence Award.  The Company’s ProTS®, technology exploits the power of mass spectrometry and enables the discovery of specific molecular profiles. Biodesix says that it collaborates with clinical investigators to address critical clinical questions, and partners with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to develop diagnostics to select patients most likely to benefit from novel therapies.

Daka collaborates with Genentech on companion diagnostics

Dako reports that it has signed an agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to collaborate on the regulatory submissions of Dako’s HercepTest™ and HER2 FISH pharmDx™ as companion diagnostics for a Genentech investigational drug candidate, pertuzumab, in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer.

Dengue test registered in Brazil

Quest Diagnostics announced that the Simplexa Dengue molecular test kit developed by its Focus Diagnostics products business has been registered for distribution in Brazil. The test kit, the company says, is the first commercial real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test to be approved for use by Brazil’s public and private health laboratories for testing for Dengue viruses.

In Brazil, only test kits registered with the National Agency of Sanitary Vigilance, an office of Brazil’s federal government, can be used by public or private health labs for clinical testing of patient specimens. Major public reference and private laboratories in the country are now evaluating the test for use on patient specimens.

Dengue, a virus transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, is endemic throughout the tropics and subtropics. Brazil has the greatest number of dengue infections in the Americas, with nearly a million cases annually accounting for 60 percent of the region’s dengue infections.

New CEO for TrovaGene

TrovaGene, Inc. (TROV.PK), a developer of trans-renal molecular diagnostics, has announced that Antonius Schuh, Ph.D. has been named as CEO of the company. Dr. Schuh previously served as Chairman and CEO of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (SRNE.PK), and was the founding CEO of AviaraDx, Inc., a leading molecular diagnostic innovator in oncology. In 2008, Dr. Schuh led the sale of AviaraDx to bioMerieux, which continues to operate AviaraDx under the name bioTheranostics. —Peter Winter