Warnex, MHI and CEPMed Collaborate to Develop a new Diagnostic Test for Cadiovascular and Metabolic Diseases

Warnex Inc ., the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) and CEPMed (The Centre of Excellence in Personalized Medicine) are collaborating to develop a new diagnostic test for early detection of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. It is hoped that this test will enable more personalized treatment of diseases such as atherosclerosis and diabetes. Financed in part by CEPMed, the test will be developed by Warnex in collaboration with Dr. Eric Thorin, a researcher at the MHI.

"Warnex is pleased to collaborate with these organizations with the objective of contributing to the advancement of personalized medicine in the cardiovascular field," said Mark Busgang, President and CEO of Warnex. "Warnex is well positioned to help researchers commercialize new diagnostic tools by developing and validating innovative assays based on their findings."

The diagnostic test to be developed is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting angiopoietin-like protein 2 (Angptl2) in blood. Angptl2 stimulates the formation of new blood vessels, provokes inflammation and is elevated in the blood of patients with cardiovascular disease.

"This is a highly stimulating project that could give rise to complementary research projects and therefore help to advance research on cardiovascular diseases," said Dr. Thorin.

"This collaboration is a good example of CEPMed's capacity to bring together researchers and companies for purposes of promoting the development of new tools in personalized medicine," said Clarissa Desjardins, CEO of CEPMed.