Ymir Genomics and Oregon Health & Science University Announce Agreement, Co-Discovery of Robust Urine Biomarkers of Liver Disease, and Patent Application Filing

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ymir Genomics LLC (Ymir) and the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Knight Cancer Institute today announced a licensing agreement and filed patent application that seeks to protect and promote newly-discovered high value urinary biomarkers for detecting cirrhosis and/or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in at-risk patient populations. The agreement and patent filing cover all protein and miRNA biomarkers discovered in their joint 60-patient pilot study, which utilized Ymir's class-leading patented (U.S. Patent No. 10,669,535) extracellular vesicle isolation technology.

Ymir and OHSU will share in any value created by the biomarkers, will jointly publish and validate the biomarkers in a large-scale multi-center study currently in design. The agreement was signed in August 2020, with patent application U.S. Serial No. 63/074,738 filed September 4, 2020.

"We are honored to continue working with OHSU on liver disease biomarkers," commented Shannon Pendergrast, Chief Science Officer at Ymir Genomics, LLC. "The main goal of our pilot study with OHSU was to perfect our sample prep and analysis methods, which we clearly accomplished as we found known serum liver disease markers in the urine. We consider this proof-of-principal for the methods. Importantly, we have also discovered over a dozen novel candidate biomarkers."

"We are excited to build on our work with Ymir towards liver disease biomarkers," said Dr. Christina Binder, study coleader and Adjunct Professor for OHSU. "There is a real need for non-invasive, widely available biomarkers for cirrhosis and HCC. We believe this collaboration will further the work on early detection of these diseases."

About Ymir Genomics: Ymir Genomics LLC is a biotech start-up based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company is committed to providing researchers with the tools they need to create non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic assays from biofluids such as urine, CSF, and saliva. Ymir Genomics is also using these tools internally and through collaborations to search for urine biomarkers for cancer and diabetes.

Media Contact:
Shannon Pendergrast, PhD.
Ymir Genomics LLC, Cambridge, MA
[email protected]

SOURCE Ymir Genomics