Researchers at Orion Genomics and Washington University Collaborate to Uncover DNA's "Second Code"

12-Aug-2005

Orion Genomics announced that it has initiated several collaborations with leading researchers at Washington University in St. Louis to discover novel biomarkers for the development of tests that screen for cancer at an early stage and provide information about how tumors should be treated. In the collaborations, scientists at Orion and Washington University will focus on the most common cancers including lung, breast, cervical, prostate and ovarian cancer and will look for "Second Code" biomarkers that indicate the presence of cancer and how it will respond to certain therapies.

Second Code biomarkers, or DNA methylation patterns, provide information on the regulation of genes. The research will enable Orion to develop tests that detect trace amounts of methylated tumor DNA in easy to access tissues such as blood serum, biopsies, and cell scraps. The company expects to market the tests within three years.

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