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Ann, I'll let you into a secret - I found this one by doing a search on "DNA Print Genomics" i.e. with the space between the "DNA" and the "Print". You can find one of the patents on the European patent database in the same way...
....but then again we might be pleasantly surprised Robert!
Anybody seen this DNA Banking site before? Potentially this could be big.
http://www.the-seeker.com/dna.htm
Introducing: DNA Banking!
There is nothing like this in the entire world!
If you don't know your birth parents' name;
If you don't know the name of the child you relinquished to adoption;
If you don't remember the date of birth of your child;
If you think you are a black market adoptee;
If you think your birth certificate was altered;
If you were an abandoned child;
If you were brought over from a war torn country as a baby:
This is for YOU!
The Seeker, in conjunction with DNA Print Genomics is now conducting DNA Banking to help reunite adoptees with birth parents!
This is not a blood DNA sampling, it is a swipe of the mouth with a q-tip type swab.
This will enable even those adopted from Vietnam at the fall of Saigon when babies were grabbed left and right to find their biological roots! You won't need to know a name, date or place of birth to get reunited!
DNA does not lie. It is an absolute match.
We wanted to keep the costs as low - to free - as we could for you because it is very expensive, but, unfortunately, there has never been a database like this before, so we had to have it built. The cost is only $195.00, but the good news is, you can pay it in increments of $25.00. To participate, email DNA Print Genomics or 941-366-3400 and they will send you the kit.
Here's how it works. They will send you a kit with two cotton swabs for you to rub the inside of your cheek and put back in the envelope he sends you. There will be instructions enclosed. You will receive a small questionnaire, along with an authorization form to sign. Your dna will be extracted from the swab, and put into a database where it will remain until a match is made. The swabs will then be destroyed. The dna will be used solely for this purpose.
Once there are enough samples gathered, they will start the matching process. We are very excited about this project and are now in the process of getting media attention so that those who are not on the internet will learn about it.
DNA Print Genomics is currently looking for participants who are half siblings (minimum two (2) participants). Please request your DNA Swab kit today to become an important part of tomorrow’s discoveries. Contact us at research@dnaprint.com or by phone at 941-366-3400. For a limited time and as part of our new website introduction, if you and your half sibling choose to participate in our research, you will all receive a 20% discount on your purchase of our AncestrybyDNA 2.0.This discount can be used in conjunction with any other discount programs we offer.
Wouldn't it be nice if the FDA mandated the use of Ancestry in this context, and also required ancestry data on the electronic tracking system for side effects from drugs. Somehow though I think the self-reported qualitative race categories will be used...
I previously posted about the 1421 project, which is concerned with researching the DNA of native peoples to see whether they have Chinese DNA. There have been some updates to the 1421 website:
http://www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=292
Tony Frudakis and colleagues: 'SNP based Measurement of Biogeographical Ancestry Admixture Population' Unpublished August 2003 – to be published shortly.
Frudakis and colleagues used the Human Genome project from which they selected Ancestry Information Markers specially chosen for denoting diversity (ie. taking Rosenberg and colleagues’ method a stage further). The results should give more accurate determination of ancestry than hitherto and should enable DNA to be dated using the percentage of linkage disequilibrium. They have built up a large database of N American Indian peoples. Their results corroborate Rosenberg’s. Relevance to Atlantic and Pacific voyages to the Americas.
http://www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=249
DNA Evidence of Gallinomero-speaking people of Healdsburg, California
1. Principal DNA Report relied upon
(a) Title: DNA Print Genomics DNA Test of Concow People
(b) Author: Tony Frudakis PhD, Head of Research, CSO DNA Print Genomics.
http://www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=145
DNA Evidence of Namaqua Hottentot People
1. Principal DNA Report relied upon
(a) Title: DNA Print Genomics DNA Test of Namaqua People of Namibia
(b) Author: Tony Frudakis PhD, CSO DNA Print Genomics.
http://www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=144
DNA Evidence of Pate Islanders of East Africa
1. Principal DNA Report relied upon
(a) Title: DNA Print Genomics DNA Test of Island People of Pate
(b) Author: Tony Frudakis PhD, CSO DNA Print Genomics.
http://www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=143
DNA Evidence of Aboriginal people of Fraser Island
1. Principal DNA Report relied upon
(a) Title: DNA Print Genomics DNA Test of Aboriginal People of Fraser Island
(b) Author: Tony Frudakis PhD, Head of Research, CSO DNA Print Genomics.
http://www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=142
DNA Evidence of Aboriginal people of Darwin, Australia
1. Principal DNA Report relied upon
(a) Title: DNA Print Genomics DNA Test of Aboriginal People of Darwin
(b) Author: Tony Frudakis PhD, Head of Research, CSO DNA Print Genomics.
http://www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=141
DNA Evidence of Nyungah Aboriginal people of Broome and Perth
1. Principal DNA Report relied upon
(a) Title: DNA Print Genomics DNA Test of Nyungah Aboriginal people
(b) Author: Tony Frudakis PhD, Head of Research, CSO DNA Print Genomics.
http://www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=139
DNA Evidence of Waitaha people of New Zealand South Island – Tananaui
1. Principal DNA Report relied upon
(a) Title: DNA Print Genomics DNA Test of Waitaha People of New Zealand, South Island
(b) Author: Tony Frudakis PhD, Head of Research, CSO DNA Print Genomics.
http://www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=133
DNA Evidence of Shawnee peoples of the Carolinas
1. Principal DNA Report relied upon
(a) Title: DNA Print Genomics DNA Test of Shawnee peoples of the Carolinas
(b) Authors: Tony Frudakis PhD, CSO DNA Print Genomics
http://www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=126
DNA Evidence of Concow people of Chico (Sacramento River, California)
1. Principal DNA Report relied upon
(a) Title: DNA Print Genomics DNA Test of Concow people of Chico
(b) Author: Tony Frudakis PhD, Head of Research, CSO DNA Print Genomics.
Synergy Sam!
Gurinder Shahi conference schedule:
http://www.business.smu.edu.sg/metia/programme/paper.htm
DAY 2 (03 Nov 2003)
PLENARY SESSIONS KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Gurinder Shahi Understanding the BioBusiness Landscape in Asia: Identifying Opportunities for Innovation and Value Creation
http://www.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/moldev/schedule.html
Human Resource Development and Biobusiness in Asia
Gurinder Shahi, Bio Enterprise Asia, Singapore
Ann, yes they are interesting, but privately held!
Ann, if you don't mind my asking, what makes you think that there is a relationship between Zyvex and DNAP? I spent a lot of time looking at this previously. There is a connection of sorts through Surromed and Paul Weiss is at PSU. Is there something else?
It is always interesting to look at the small print. For instance, on the PhenoMed website you can see the following notice on all the pages:
© Copyright 2003 PhenoMed. All rights reserved. "Genome-aware Therapeutics" and PhenoMed are trademarks of PhenoMed, Sdn Bhd. GenoMed™ is the trademark of GenoMed, Inc.
The term "Genome-aware Therapeutics" is not mentioned anywhere else on their site that I can see. As I said before, a lot of thought has obviously gone into things and I would suggest that we are seeing the tip of the iceberg.
The (rather nice) PhenoMed website clearly didn't spring into existence overnight, which suggests that we are starting to see things being announced that were originated some time ago. In the case of GMED, it seems to me that they finalized their funding prior to announcing their involvement with PhenoMed. DNAP are still finalizing their funding through the PP. I would tend to think that once DNAP complete this activity we will see a bit more of the picture.
That's old age! eom
Bag8ger, certainly brought into existence for this partnership. From the original PR in KL (October 20):
Mr. Kamaluddin went on to say, "our government is willing to commit the necessary resources to growing the country’s life sciences and biotechnology fields. PhenoMed’s soon-to-be-announced technologies and therapeutics will help generate some of the intellectual property Malaysia is seeking. This is very important to us. I am confident PhenoMed will become an integral part of Malaysia’s BioValley initiative."
It looks like Dave Moskowitz has got himself a seat at the game!
http://www.phenomed.net/index.htm
"BioEnterpise Asia estimates that 50 percent or more of the GDP of most countries today will be impacted by innovations in the life sciences and biotechnology through… the development of new tools for biomedical diagnosis and treatment."
Gurinder Shahi,
BioBusiness in Asia, 2003
Are we having fun yet?
http://www.phenomed.net/staff.htm
Chief Operating Officer (Interim)
Ezehan Reza Kamalludin
Ezehan is currently Chief Operating Officer of DNA Phenomics, a Malaysian bioinformatics company. To expedite the rapid development of PhenoMed by completing much of the early corporate organization and build out, Ezehan has agreed to serve in the capacity of interim COO until such time a permanent and suitable replacement can be found. Ezehan was a Business Development Executive for an events management company (ICFM Sdn.Bhd.) where he was responsible for event management, sponsorship, and marketing. More recently he provided investment analysis for RHB Research Institute, a subsidiary of the RHB Group of companies. A graduate of the Victoria Institution, Ezehan holds a degree in International Business from the prestigious Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, International Center.
Chief Scientific Officer
David W. Moskowitz, MD - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Medical Officer, GenoMed, Inc.
Dr. Moskowitz majored in Chemistry (summa cum laude) at Harvard College, Biochemistry (first class honours) at Merton College, Oxford, and received an MD (cum laude) from the Harvard-MIT Division in Health Sciences and Technology (Harvard Medical School). He trained for 7 years in Internal Medicine and Nephrology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis before spending 11 years on the faculty of St. Louis University School of Medicine. From 1994 to 1997, Dr. Moskowitz experienced first hand the clinical effectiveness of knowing a disease-associated gene (the angiotensin converting enzyme, or ACE, gene). Dr. Moskowitz is a pioneer in the field of medical genomics, and has been recognized for his groundbreaking treatment of diseases associated with the angiotensin I-converting enzyme, such as chronic renal failure due to hypertension or type II diabetes.
Domain Name: PHENOMED.NET
Registrar: TUCOWS, INC.
Whois Server: whois.opensrs.net
Referral URL: http://www.opensrs.org
Name Server: NS.SENECIO.COM
Status: REGISTRAR-LOCK
Updated Date: 22-oct-2003
Creation Date: 30-jul-2003
Expiration Date: 30-jul-2004
Chris, I like this bit: "We have a large bioinformatics research project being readied as well as several other alliances under consideration."
The "we" here being PhenoMed of course. It's funny, but Senecio don't seem to have got PhenoMed's website up and running yet. Wonder who Ezehan Reza Kamaluddin will be handing the COO reigns over to if he is the interim incumbent. Hope this doesn't detract too much from his duties at DNA Phenomics!
I feel another visit to the Malaysian Company Registrar coming on...
No connection at all with DNAP of course, and certainly none with DNA Phenomics.
Bag8ger, this is a difficult area to understand. I find that reading a number of documents is useful in highlighting different aspects, but have yet to find a good single paper that explains the diffent approaches. Have a look at the following which range from introductory overviews to fairly technical treatises:
The use of SNP blocks:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/05/010511073639.htm
A couple of GSK documents and webpages:
http://genetics.gsk.com/understand.htm
(Have a look at the "Genes and Disease" section especially)
http://genetics.gsk.com/docs/Backgrounder_GeneticsToFindDiseaseGenes.pdf
http://genetics.gsk.com/library.htm
Approaches to Identify Genes for Complex Human Diseases: Lessons from Mendelian Disorders (an NCI doucment from February 2003):
http://www.kattler-gold.net/deantest/disease%20gene%20review%202_2003.pdf
Linkage disequilibrium and association mapping, lecture notes from the University of Oxford:
http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~mcvean/L8notes.pdf
A Gene Expression Data Analysis and Modeling tutorial:
http://psb.stanford.edu/psb99/genetutorial.pdf
Bag8ger, briefly, gene expression analysis and MALD are different processes; although there are common applications for the two. Departure from linkage equilibrium is when the observed frequencies of haplotypes in a population does not agree with frequencies predicted by multiplying the frequency of individual genetic markers (locii) in each haplotype. These genetic markers in a haplotype are closely linked and tend to be inherited together, so if locii are independently inherited there is de facto no linkage equilibrium (and no measurable linkage disequilibrium). That's probably as clear as mud, but not an easy question to answer simply!
James F. Crow, is Professor Emeritus of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Amongst other things he is chair of the National Research Council Commission on Life Sciences Committee on DNA Forensic Science.
Some comments from the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence Research & Development Working Group (Chair, James F. Crow) Final Report, (July 10, 2000):
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/dnamtgtrans10/trans-8.html
Looking a little further into the future, one of the wishes of our committee or at least several members of you are as far as possible to avoid group identification. We're all conscious of the political overtones, social overtones, legal overtones of genetic profiling or racial profiling, so maybe the less we can use of racial statements in connection with that identification of people perhaps the better.
I think it's possible in the future to make DNA identification without too much specification as to what race the person belongs to, what major group a person belongs to. One thing to do is we have several different, five or so, ethnic groups in the state. You can test all five of them without asking which one the person belongs to. Another step which could be done is to have a uniform database cover everybody stratified by regular makeup in the United States and then use a large evaluator corrective factor to take advantage of the fact that there is more substructure in whatever one of the population is treated this way than otherwise.
What about using DNA to identify the racial origin of a group? You could do pretty well right now with the 13 loci, but there is very little reason to do it. It might help in narrowing the circle of suspects, and that could be done right now. It can be done better with a large number of markers. We're more interested, however, in asking about the detection of particular traits, and right now there are a few traits that could be identified, bald or color blind. I'll soon run out of these because there aren't very many known single traits, but right now there are a few that can be used.
Undoubtedly this wonderful DNA project is going to turn up more genes, and perhaps within ten years it will be possible to make a pretty good description of a person typically from a DNA sample.
On August 29th - 30th 2003 the 2nd annual Forensic Bioinformatics Conference on Statistics and DNA Profiling was held at Wright State University:
http://bioforensics.com/conference/conference.html
This was the one that had the DNA Witness racial profiling presentation:
http://bioforensics.com/conference/Racial%20Identification/index.html
One of the suggested background reading papers for attendees of this conference was "DNA forensics: past, present, and future" by Professor Crow. This paper is also from 2000. Here are some excerpts:
http://bioforensics.com/conference/Welcome/crow2.pdf
SOME OTHER POSSIBILITIES FOR THE FUTURE
Inferring Geographical Ancestry. It is already possible, with the 13 Core STR loci, that some profiles are appreciably more frequent in one geographical group than in another. If a profile were 100 times as likely in the Caucasian population as in Hispanics, this could help narrow the range of suspects searched. If this is done, it would be well to consider the background population frequency, used as a prior probability. I should emphasize that this is only probabilistic and is of value only in preliminary identification, not in establishing evidence of a common source of evidence and suspect DNAs.
Individual Traits. As a result of the genome project and other genetic research, more and more gene determined individual traits are being identified. In the near future we can expect that genes for eye pigment, hair color, baldness, skin pigment, color-blindness, albinism, and others will have been identified. This is an area that is being intensively researched at present. It would be rash to predict, but it seems likely that a profile that could be useful in the search for suspects will be found in the near future.
So, leaving aside baldness and color blindness, which he identified in the Future of DNA Evidence Report as traits that could already be identified, we are left with eye pigment, hair color, skin pigment and albinism. Interesting that he singled out those traits. It could just be that they are the most informative. It is also possible that he was aware of work being undertaken by a colleague of one of the National Research Council Commission on Life Sciences Committee on DNA Forensic Science members:
http://www4.nas.edu/news.nsf/isbn/0309053951?OpenDocument
Masatoshi Nei, Ph.D.
Evan Pugh Professor of Biology and Director
Institute of Molecular Evolutionary Genetics
Pennsylvania State University
Not too much to post about at the moment! The company is very quiet and I think that we have collectively uncovered most of the obvious DD that there is out there. From the conferences section of the revised DNAP website:
http://www.dnaprint.com/2003/corporate/conferences.html
We can see that Tony is talking on DNA Witness at two upcoming conferences: AMS Genome Convention, Amsterdam, Netherlands (17-Nov-03) and Annual Lorne Genome 2004 Conference, Brisbane, Australia (Feb-04). I can find nothing on the first conference. The list of international and local speakers for the second one is here:
http://www.genome-conf.net.au/lorne/speakers.asp
The site is incomplete and the only detail of Tony's presentation is this item on the above page:
Tony Frudakis DNAprint Genomics, USA
Use of SNPs in genetic analysis
This superficially seems more general than DNA Witness, and indeed most of the other presentations are disease related. More detail will presumably be added in due course.
North Central Florida Post Polio Support Group updates
http://www.postpoliosupport.com/polio%20post%20news.htm#-2-
Two updates have been posted to the original article:
UPDATE (October 12, 2003):
As anyone who can read a calendar can tell, our October 12 meeting is now history. Sort of. "Sort of" because Tony Frudakis' research goes on. In our next issue we hope to be able to tell you how YOU can help in this research project that may result in the development of a genetically-based screening test that can predict the muscle-related adverse effects caused by cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. The best part is that you won't have to leave your home or endure any kind of blood letting...! Like I said, we'll have more for you in the next issue.
In the meantime, let me share a couple of photos from the October 12th meeting. There's a certain sneaky joy to having one of those little digital cameras that you can slip in and out of your shirt pocket! Below is Burton W. Marsh M.D., our Support Group Medical Advisor, talking after the meeting with Tony Frudakis, Ph.D., (Center) whose firm (DNAPrint genomics) is conducting the DNA research, and Carol Bohach, BS Pharm (Right) who is a Clinical Research Consultant, member of our support group, and the person who brought Dr. Frudakis together with Dr. Marsh and Carolyn Raville for a meeting that resulted in his being at our program for October. Normally, their level of conversation is elevated enough to give me a nosebleed but, here, Dr. Frudakis was telling them he was pleased at the number of attendees who stepped up to the plate and volunteered to take part in his project.
UPDATE (October 13, 2003)
Research Study: For Developing a Test Prior to Statin Use
Tony Frudakis, PhD, President, CEO and Laboratory Director at the Sarasota-based firm DNAPrint genomics, began a research project with members of the North Central Florida Post-Polio Support Group.
Dr. Frudakis was very pleased with the overwhelming attendance and the response of our members who have experienced statin-related muscle pain to one or more statin drugs. He hopes to see whether a genetic trait exists that causes some people to be especially susceptible to the muscle-related side effects of the statin drugs. If the genetic trait can be identified, DNAPrint genomics will proceed in developing a test that may be used prior to statin use.
The research test procedure will involve no blood sampling, merely the collection of a tissue sample by stroking the inside of your cheek with a cotton swab. The sample will be collected in a confidential manner (by you in your own home) and only used for the "statin collection project."
Now that we understand it more completely and how it works, we are extending the opportunity to you, the reader, to be a part of the DNA research study as part of the North Central Florida Post-Polio Support Group. If you have been on a statin drug and have experienced muscle-related side effects, please mail a brief experience of your side effects due to statins, along with your name and address, and we will send you a brief questionnaire along with the necessary DNA swab kit. Remember that once you have received the kit you still have the choice of giving your name or remaining anonymous.
We hope you will join us in this very important research study.
A paper by Mirhashemi, Frudakis et al from 2002 appeared on PubMed today:
Mirhashemi R, Arena JF, Frudakis T, Lambrou N, Arboleda J, Hunt M, Medranda M, Averette H, Penalver M. Candidate gene in predicting in vivo ovarian cancer response to combination therapy with paraplatin and Paclitaxel. ScientificWorldJournal. 2002 Jan 2;2(1 Suppl 2):19-20.
Here is a link to the abstract:
http://www.thescientificworld.com/TSWPubs/Journal/Detail.asp?ArtID=37762061
Adverse drug reactions, due at least in part to interindividual variability in drug response, rank between the 4th and 6th leading causes of death in the U.S. The field of "pharmacogenetics" (the study of variability in drug response due to heredity), should help in reducing drug-caused morbidity and mortality[1]. The underlying genetics for the efficacy of the chemotherapeutic treatment of ovarian cancer is still unknown and subject to a high degree of uncertainty and interindividual variability[2]. In the present project, using a pharmacogenomic approach, we evaluate the patient response rates to primary chemotherapeutic treatment of ovarian cancer with combination of paclitaxel and the carboplatin agents. In an attempt to define the genetic determinants for this variability, we are conducting a pharmacogenomics study to predict response based on patient genomics[3].
mahastock, I believe that the company originally scheduled to do the presentation was DNAP Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd; but it was DNA Phenomics who eventually made the presentation. Just a hunch!
mahastock, yes interesting. Are/were Umicorp Malaysian though?
http://www.solutions-toolkit.org/ASP/browsebyvendor.asp?Letter=U&SessionGUID=
Mission Statement Udoshi Medical Informatics is a privately held limited share corporation dedicated to the development of medically related information technology solutions. Our primary intent is to create proprietary technologies that respect the traditional practice of medicine and improve accessibility and efficiency for all individuals in the value chain. From medical educators to medical students, from patients to providers we wish to facilitate added transparency and bring greater understanding
94 Sedler Road
Dallas, Pennsylvania 18612
Dr. Sanjay Udoshi
sudoshi@umicorp.com
Web: http://www.umicorp.com
Whereas this page lists their location as Belgaum (India)
http://www.stph.soft.net/player_hubli.html
Sanjay Udoshi is also the webmaster for this site:
http://www.vsnayouth.org/
He was interested in getting things done at low cost:
http://forums.devshed.com/t31768/s.html
Project Type: Small Business Project ($100 - $500)
Max Bid: 250
Categories: C++ / C,Visual Basic,Network
Description: We are developing a high end Patient Information Management package for the Indian and Asian market. One of the value added services is an Instant Messenger client (currently written in VC++) that operates both in an intranet environment (ie Polyclinics with multiple physicians on the LAN) as well as with global intranet users at a specific domain (similar to the MSN network). Our portal 'indiahealth.com' is scheduled to go online in June. We have talked to a number of software outsource contractors who are only interested in charging us an exorbitant price for a rather simple functionality. In addition to this we are implementing a 'digital conference room' which is basically an IRC server with limited and specific channels where doctors of various specialties can get together online and discuss academic and clinical topics. We need to write an IRC client that is highly specific and targets only our server. We have a running start in this endeavor, since we have acquired some freeware source code, which requires a great deal of customization. Our 11 member team is severely burdened by the current workload, and I am considering outsourcing the project. If you choose to, you would be responsible for accomplishing the following tasks: 1. Refine the Messenger and allow it to communicate with a server on the Internet to provide similar functionality as MSN Messenger: a. Contacts List (partially implemented - LAN only, Internet connectivity is a high priority) b. File Transfer (partially implemented - moderate priority) c. Voice Chat - (this is low priority but we have some source code) d. Proxy Support (allow the client to connect to the net from behind a firewall using SOCKS proxy v.5 - high priority) 2. Develop a server application to support the client (we don't really know where to start. Obviously we have to ensure robustness at high loads) 3. Develop and Customize an IRC client to communicate with our IRC server irc.umicorp.com (203.192.203.147 - not globally available) I must be honest and inform you in advance that your pay would not be significant, but definitely respectable and negotiable. Should the project meet with its expected level of success, your reward would reflect that. Let me know what you think. Sincerely, Dr. S.M. Udoshi CEO Udoshi Medical Informatics
Submitted on 3/3/2002 10:04:15 AM and accessed 59 times.
Bidding Ends: 3/14/2002 11:00:00 PM
Now, the other interesting thing is this:
UMI is proud to anounce that as of June 10, 2003 we have been acquired by HealthHighway.com, a California Corporation dedicated to the development of integrated clinic practice management solutions.
And of course the TIE meeting was 9th July 2003. So what were "Umicorp" doing making a presentation at this forum?
Early, this is just a list of patents from Norway in July 2001. How the international patent process works is that people usually make an international application to WIPO. Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) this has the effect of making a national patent application in the PCT contracting states that the applicant specifies. At the international level searches are made, etc. The granting of patents in individual states is the responsibility of the national patent authority, but the process is greatly simplified if the WIPO international process has been followed. Additional fees and things like translation of the patent are required if the national applications are eventually made. So the above is a Norwegian application stemming from a WIPO application by Corixa. There are other examples of this sort of thing, e.g. we have seen Australian patent details previously.
Nice try Chig. This search doesn't find Asia Healthcare Inc - the Philippines company which I think we can discount. I am still stuck with this one myself. Perhaps Hector made the name up?
Ann, I don't think so as this is part of the (privately held) Morningside Group. Also, the company referred to on the website is "Asia Healthcare Ltd" not "Healthcare Asia". There is no listed company with this name that I can see, so this one is a bit of a mystery at the moment!
From their paternity service information we can see they are currently using a STR based test:
http://www.dnaprint.com/2003/services/paternity.html
"DNAPrintTM genomics, Inc. provides an affordable, confidential and accurate screening test service for paternity. Our paternity test is processed on an ABI 3700, a state of the art analyzer that measures the Short Tandem Repeat (STR) units that have been standardized. The test measures 16 loci (markers) and the 10 to 15 alleles that are associated with each loci. These alleles along with their combinations and intensity are like a fingerprint and are unique to each individual. The inheritance of these unique combinations of alleles can be tested using our ABI 3700 auto-analyzer and the results may be used to help individuals understand their genetic linkage to one another."
In the "Participate in our Research" section of the website you find the following:
http://www.dnaprint.com/2003/corporate/participate.html
"We are also working to expand our paternity testing to siblings and half siblings."
"We are currently looking for participants who are half siblings (minimum two (2) participants)."
Now, is this an extension of the STR based test or are they developing an SNP based paternity test? There is at least one SNP based paternity test on the market:
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2003/05/26/story4.html?jst=s_rs_hl
"Orchid's test is the first approved by the AABB that uses the presence of certain single nucleotide polymophisms, or SNPs, as stand-alone genetic markers to determine paternity."
"An estimated 400,000 paternity tests are performed every year in the United States, according to the AABB. Paternity tests range in price from $200 to $1,000 per test. The average cost is between $450 and $500, according to industry reports. Although Orchid expects to cut its costs through SNP technology, the price of the testing is expected to remain at $200 to $500 per test."
"We expect the use of SNP technology [in paternity testing] to enable us to achieve greater operating efficiencies and reduce costs," said Andrew P. Savadelis, Orchid's senior vice president and CFO.
At $200 a test we are still looking at some $80 million in gross annual revenue for paternity testing, and of course those with SNP technology will presumably take the lions share of this market due to the cost efficiencies...
big, that's the obvious one, but they are called Morningside Healthcare Asia (or just Healthcare Asia) rather than Asia Healthcare. I'll look for it later (unless W2P finds it first).
Beckman versus Orchid?
"We use the most economical genotyping platform available, Beckman Coulter’s GenomeLabTM SNPstream Genotyping System."
Early, not the same company - I know because they are my healthcare provider! Hector is working for some other (I assume new) entity. Given that is is a "Ltd" entity is must be based somewhere like Hong Kong that uses this nomenclature.
One oddity from the new website in the text about Hector:
"He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of DNAPRINT genomics, Inc., PRB Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Asia Healthcare Ltd."
Having had a quick look, I can find nothing on this mysterious organization, but the name is intriguing.
Indeed, makes you wonder what type of new applications (all three of them) such a company and a partner would be involved with!
W2P, probably wouldn't surprise you to learn that I spent a lot of time today looking at the NIH Roadmap! A grand vision indeed, the implementation of which will be interesting. Some very relevant things on the IT side - networks to "facilitate the sharing of data and resources, and augment clinical research performance and analysis. Indeed does look like an attempt to streamline and shorten the clinical trial process. Perhaps introduce some data standardization as well? Of course the NIH already oversees individual services like BLAST, so this sort of distributed architectural framework is a natural evolution for them.
You're welcome. Some of the attempts at FUD are pretty weak!
That's service with an (SM) eom
stakddek, I think that there are two different things here:
1. IT support for internal processes related to things like functional genomics, target identification, simulation, drug development, clinical trials, etc.
2. IT support for internet-based service delivery.
There seems to be a perfect fit with a certain software house for the latter, as per Tony's original vision of how this would work. Not sure if they would be involved in the former, or if this might involve one or more other companies or individuals.
I posted an excerpt from this article previously when talking about Gurinder Shahi. The highlighted text I think has some significance for what DNA Phenomics (and DNAP) are going to be doing longer term.
http://www.internetnews.com/fina-news/article.php/1444141
August 12, 2002
A Perfect Marriage Between Bioscience And IT
By Tan Mae Lynn
Not long ago, it was the dotcom companies. Today, the buzz is in biotechnology and life sciences.
Touted as the gold mine for the next decade, public and private investors all over Asia are pumping in billions of dollars in an effort to keep up with growth expected in the biotech industry.
According to IDC, Korea is expected to see the largest growth in life sciences based on the sheer size of investment being pumped into the industry - US$10.8 billion by 2008. In Singapore, the government will be injecting US$2.5 billion toward plans to make the country Asia's biotech and life sciences hub. Australia already has over 200 listed biotech companies and currently holds the lead in research successes and drug approvals. By 2006, it is expected to be the second largest bioscience economy in Asia Pacific.
One thing's for sure - Asia wants to be at the forefront of life sciences.
IT, The Great Enabler
Previously, the process of research and development and slow product time-to-market had caused investors to turn away.
According to Dr. Gurinder Shahi, Chairman of BioEnterprise Asia, "the traditional approach to drug discovery and development is a long and drawn out process that could take 3-5 years or longer, and depends more on serendipity and is limited by often non-standardized, unsystematic and highly inefficient and even random processes."
That's not all. The pre-clinical and thereafter clinical testing stages could also take just as long.
The high risks and possible low, if any, returns also made it easy for investors to turn away. Philip Fersht, IDC Asia Pacific's Director of Bio-IT and Life Sciences, says success in bioscience had a one in 33,000 chance of success and one in five percent chance from inception to market launch.
However, with the help of technology, bioscience has seen rapid advancement and its growth potential is still enormous.
And there lies the pot of gold. "All these processes are ripe for a total rethink so they can systematically be telescoped into much quicker development cycles and less inefficient and random approaches," says Shahi.
He adds that there are already some companies that have come up with new and innovative ways to "short-circuit" drug discovery and development using smart lab-science and the best that bio-IT has to offer for computer-based analysis and molecular simulation.
In doing so, Shahi says, "we can go from identification of a drug target to generation of optimized candidate drugs in 3-4 months rather than the 3-5 years it normally takes."
Fersht also believes that IT will be the enabler to bring about the vast majority of business and scientific advances in the bioscience industry. He says: "IT provides the necessary and essential tools to create, organize, analyze, store, retrieve and share genomic, proteomic, chemical and clinical data in the life sciences."
The Road Ahead
Most experts agree that the bioscience economy in Asia Pacific is still in its infancy, leaving vast opportunities waiting to be tapped. Market capitalization of all biotech firms in Asia today is estimated to be less than five percent that of the top 25 US companies, according to Shahi.
So how can the bioscience potential be realized? An environment of partnership between government, industry and academia should be established before a country can hope to reap the benefits of a flourishing life sciences/biotech economy, Shahi says.
Also, the continued development of IT systems will undoubtedly augment biosciences in future. Fersht believes that bioscience creates a middleware, hardware, services and networking opportunity for IT companies, and sees that by 2006, storage will represent the single largest element of bio-IT spending, accounting for US$1.1 billion, and server clusters following closely with US$1 billion and services at US$794 million.
There will also be a higher demand for high performance computing systems. In addition to this, Shahi adds that there is a clear benefit to be derived from the development of better knowledge and database management, integration systems as well as from the development of virtual reality tools for molecular modeling and simulations.
The apparent optimism surrounding bioscience could bode very well for the rapid development of bio-IT.
End of article
So, there are clearly a number of disciples involved in drug development, all of which involve processes that can be automated. Apart from issues such as data storage, it seems to me that there are two areas where IT are particularly important in this context:
1. An integrating framework within which all of the activities occur; and
2. State of the art sub-systems addressing particular bottlenecks or support for key processes.
With regard to the latter it is clear from what Gurinder Shahi says that he sees computer based analysis, molecular modeling and simulation as key areas.