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BIOCRATES Joins European Research Consortium – SysKid

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Austrian BIOCRATES Life Sciences AG has joined a multi-partner European research program dedicated to improving the diagnosis and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD), i.e., the ‘Systems Biology towards Novel Chronic Kidney Disease Diagnosis and Treatment’ project-or SysKid.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), which most commonly develops as a result of diabetes mellitus and hypertension, currently affects about 50 million Europeans.

In addition to increasing mortality, CKD causes cardiovascular disease, bone metabolism disorders, and nerve damage. Also, as kidney disease progresses, it may eventually result in kidney failure requiring hemodialysis or kidney transplantation to maintain life. Only if diagnosed early and accurately can these consequences be avoided.

SysKid consortium: collaborative effort to fight chronic kidney disease:

A large-scale integrative European research project, SysKid, has now set out to improve the early detection of CKD. Much of SysKid’s financial underpinning comes from a European Union grant amounting to EUR 11.8 million. The consortium, which held its first general assembly from 9–11 March 2010 at the Medical University of Vienna, brings together 25 research groups from 15 countries, i.e., Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Israel, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United States, and will extend over 5 years.

Austrian biomarker maker BIOCRATES joins partnership:

“The most exciting and innovative aspect of SysKid is that it makes use of a revolutionary area of research referred to as ‘systems biology’—the biostatistical integration of data generated from genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics,” says Dr. Klaus Weinberger, Chief Scientific Officer of BIOCRATES. “This ‘omics’ quartet will allow the development of novel diagnostic biomarkers of unprecedented specificity and sensitivity, painting a comprehensive and interdisciplinary picture of CKD—from the genetic basis of the disease to its expression, protein, and metabolite profile. This approach will enable CKD to be detected well before it has become manifest, assess disease stages more accurately, and tailor treatment to the individual needs of a patient.”

BIOCRATES: Metabolic biomarkers made in Austria:

For BIOCRATES, the only SysKid partner specialized in metabolomics, the project will be a unique opportunity to bring its broad know-how to bear in an international partnership. Also, it will help the company take its biomarker development to the next level: Thanks to the huge number of biological samples collected as part of the SysKid project, BIOCRATES will be able to further expand and refine its metabolomics data base with valid and robust biological data.