Ymir Genomics and the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute Announce Collaboration

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ymir Genomics, LLC (Ymir) and the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science University, OHSU, today announced a strategic collaboration to develop urinary biomarkers that will help detect hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in at-risk patient populations. The collaboration will exploit Ymir's proprietary urinary extracellular vesicle technology and the expertise of the Knight Cancer Institute supported OHSU Proteomics Shared Resource (http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/research/research-cores/proteomics/). Ymir will isolate extracellular vesicles and analyze miRNA profiles of urine samples from liver cancer patients and high-risk cirrhotic patient controls provided by OHSU. OHSU will take the same vesicle preps and determine protein profiles. A collaboration agreement and IRB are approved and a pilot study is underway, funded by a Medical Research Foundation of Oregon Early Clinical Investigator Award Grant to Dr. Christina Binder. 

"We are honored to work with OHSU. They have assembled a spectacular team of clinicians and researchers including Dr. Charles Thomas (Team Leader), Dr. Scott Naugler (Liver Disease Diagnostics/Treatment), Dr. Ashok Reddy (Proteomics Shared Resource) and Dr. Christina Binder (Radiation Medicine Resident)," commented P. Shannon Pendergrast, Chief Science Officer at Ymir Genomics, LLC. "With our technology and OHSU's considerable expertise, I am confident that we can find these much-needed biomarkers. Imagine at-risk patients monitoring their liver health by simply dropping a urine sample into the mail.  The stability of exosomes in urine makes this possible."

"It's exciting to be collaborating with the team at Ymir on this project. This is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished when bringing basic scientists, clinicians, and industry together," says Dr. Larry David, Director of the OHSU Proteomics Shared Resource.  "The work dovetails quite well with the major research goal of the Knight Cancer Institute, which is to be able to detect cancers earlier so they can be more effectively treated."

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 is also using these tools internally and through collaborations to search for urine biomarkers for cancer and diabetes. For additional information visit www.ymirgenomics.com.

About the Knight Cancer Institute: The Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science University is a pioneer in the field of precision cancer medicine. The institute's director, Brian Druker, M.D., helped prove it was possible to shut down just the cells that enable cancer to grow. This breakthrough has made once-fatal forms of the disease manageable and transformed how cancer is treated. The OHSU Knight Cancer Institute is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center between Sacramento and Seattle – an honor earned only by the nation's top cancer centers. It is headquarters for one of the National Cancer Institute's largest research collaboratives, SWOG, in addition to offering the latest treatments and technologies as well as hundreds of research studies and clinical trials. For additional information on the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute visit www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/cancer or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

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

SOURCE Ymir Genomics, LLC

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