Proteomics International Laboratories has secured a key partner for the looming roll-out of its PromarkerD predictive test to fight kidney disease after signing an exclusive licence deal with Sonic Healthcare USA.
The company says its test could help the estimated 32 million adults in the United States – 11 per cent of that country’s population – who live with diabetes, by identifying their risk of developing kidney disease.
Sonic Healthcare USA presents as a strong ally, as it boasts a team of about 400 pathologists who provide a comprehensive range of diagnostic medicines and subspecialty expertise for millions of patients in the United States. The agreement with Proteomics will allow it to offer PromarkerD to physicians and healthcare systems via its existing client engagement network.
The exclusive licence agreement is for five years and is extendable by mutual agreement.
PromarkerD is a prognostic test that can predict future kidney function decline in patients living with type 2 diabetes, but who have no existing diabetic kidney disease. Proteomics says clinical studies published in leading journals show PromarkerD correctly predicted up to 86 per cent of otherwise healthy diabetics who went on to develop diabetic kidney disease within four years.
In signing with Sonic Healthcare USA we believe we have an ideal partner to bring our PromarkerD technology to the world’s premier healthcare market, potentially benefiting millions of patients with diabetes. The US is one of our key addressable markets and we expect this partnership to significantly increase the reach and adoption of PromarkerD through Sonic Healthcare USA’s physician and patient focused channels. Proteomics International Laboratories managing director Dr Richard Lipscombe
Proteomics argues PromarkerD can help prevent the need for renal replacement therapies such as dialysis and kidney transplant, potentially saving healthcare systems around the world billions of dollars a year. According to the US Renal Data System, the total cost of diabetic kidney disease is US$130 billion (AU$196 billion) per year in the US alone.
Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation. Between 2000 and 2019, there was a three per cent increase in diabetes mortality rates by age. In 2019, diabetes and kidney disease due to diabetes caused an estimated two million deaths worldwide.
Proteomics has been busily building the foundations from which to launch PromarkerD and earlier this month received a boost with the identification of a diabetes drug that enhances the prospects of its predictive test. A new study, published in the esteemed peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Medicine, found that patients who took “canagliflozin” showed a significant reduction in risk scores through the PromarkerD process.
The research also showed that the patients who had been identified as being at high risk of kidney disease at the start of the study had received the greatest benefit. The US health market has often been viewed as the holy grail for those who are playing in that sandpit. With Proteomics having opened the door, its prospects of doing some real good for those with diabetes – and turning a profit in the process – appear a step closer to reality.
And the market has responded accordingly, Proteomics shares were today up as much as 25 per cent to an intraday high of $1.125 cents, from yesterday’s close of 90c.
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