Fintan Steele

SomaLogic CEO Dr. Larry Gold presents breakthrough protein biomarker technology at American Association for the Advancement of Science 2012 meeting

The ability to simultaneously measure thousands of proteins will move medicine from gene-based “prediction” to protein-based “action”

February 17, 2012 -- Boulder CO, USA, and Vancouver BC, Canada

“Prediction” is only part of what is needed to realize the promise of personalized medicine: It is perhaps more critical to detect the early onset of disease in real time, when it is most likely to be successfully treated. Dr. Larry Gold, CEO of SomaLogic and Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, presented a breakthrough technology that promises to provide such sensitive and early detection, and ultimately transform the practice of medicine. His talk, Unlocking Biomarker Discovery, was given at a special Session on “Predictive Medicine” on February 17, 2012, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada. 

Genes are uniquely “predictive.” Indeed, the recent, astounding advances in genomics provide an ever-finer risk assessment for a variety of diseases. But although one’s genetic makeup may predict the lifetime risk of a particular disease, it rarely informs a particular individual whether or not he or she has actually contracted that disease. Truly personalized medicine requires more immediate and more accurate molecular markers of health and disease. And those markers are most likely to be found among the 20,000-plus proteins that circulate through the body at varying concentrations, concentrations that are related directly to the state of wellness of the body from which they arise.

Proteins, however, are notoriously difficult to measure accurately, sensitively, and in a high-throughput manner. First-generation proteomic technologies like chromatography, 2D gels, mass spectrometry and antibody-based ELISAs each have advantages, but none can capture a complete picture of the human proteome rapidly and cost-effectively. SomaLogic’s new SOMAscan™ technology, based on novel SOMAmer™ protein capture reagents, can identify and measure thousands of proteins from a drop of blood or other biological sample. The SOMAscan assay finally unlocks protein biomarker discovery to drive new therapeutic and diagnostic discovery and development.

In his talk, Dr. Gold provided examples of how the SOMAscan assay has already been applied successfully to clinical and companion diagnostics, new drug discovery and development, and new understandings of normal biology and disease. He also introduced the idea of the “Wellness Chip,” a single assay tool that could empower each person to maintain his or her own state of health, and usher in a new age of truly “personalized” medicine.

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About SomaLogic

SomaLogic, Inc., is a privately held biomarker discovery and clinical diagnostics company based in Boulder, Colorado. The company's mission is to use its proprietary proteomic technology to develop enhanced protein analysis tools and reagents for the life sciences community, to facilitate biomarker discovery and validation for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, and to develop and commercialize clinical diagnostic products that will improve the delivery of healthcare by offering timely and accurate diagnostic information to physicians and their patients. Further information about SomaLogic can be found at www.somalogic.com.

About SOMAscan™/SOMAmers™

SomaLogic’s proprietary SOMAscan™ proteomic technology platform underlies a rapidly growing number of new diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities. The power of the SOMAscan platform comes from its use of a new generation of nucleic acid-based protein-binding reagents, called SOMAmers™ (Slow Off-rate Modified Aptamers). The unique physical properties of SOMAmers empower the accurate detection and measurement of thousands of proteins over a large range of concentrations in just a few drops of blood (or other tissues), all in a single SOMAscan assay.

SomaLogic scientists to present their powerful protein biomarker SOMAscan™ assay and its multiple applications at the 2012 Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference

Boulder CO and San Francisco CA, February 20, 2012

With the recent successful commercial launch of its powerful protein biomarker SOMAscan™ assay as a service to biopharmaceutical researchers, SomaLogic scientists will be presenting both the “nuts and bolts” of the technology as well as its multiple therapeutic and diagnostic applications to over 3000 participants at the 2012 Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference February 19-23 in San Francisco, CA. 

“We believe that this annual conference of leaders from across the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and academic arenas is the ideal venue for us to demonstrate the power of our SOMAscan technology,” said Stephen Williams, M.D., SomaLogic’s Chief Medical Officer. “The broad mix of attendees from across the healthcare continuum aligns well with the many potential uses of our SOMAscan assay.”

Both Dr. Williams and Dr. Richard Lawn, SomaLogic’s Executive Director of Translational Medicine, will present keynote addresses at the Tri-Conference. Mark Messenbaugh, Director of Corporate Strategy, will present a talk during a special pre-meeting “Partnering Forum.” In addition, SomaLogic scientists will present the following posters, which describe the SOMAscan assay and its power:

• SOMAscan™: Quantitative, high-throughput, highly multiplexed proteomic measurements based on Slow Off-rate Modified Aptamers (SOMAmers™)
• Proteomic insights in oncology: What have we learned from measuring millions of proteins?
• Exposing the criminal record of every blood sample: Use of SOMAmer™ technology and sample mapping vectors to mitigate false biomarker discoveries
• Differential protein signatures in erlotinib-sensitive and resistant lung cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo
• Beyond high risk: An improved stratification of cardiovascular risk using SOMAscan™ proteomic technology

Attendees at the 2012 Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference can also come to booth 308 in the Exhibit Hall to learn more about how SomaLogic’s SOMAscan technology can unlock their protein biomarker needs.

SomaLogic Announces Research Agreement with Leading Global Pharmaceutical Company to Accelerate Pharmaceutical Discovery and Development

Powerful proteomic technology to be applied to biomarker discovery, target discovery and validation, and companion diagnostics

Boulder CO, October 18, 2011

SomaLogic, Inc., announced today that it has entered into a multi-year research agreement with Novartis to use its unique proprietary proteomics technology to accelerate Novartis’ drug discovery and development efforts. 

“We are excited by this opportunity to work with Novartis’ world-class researchers to help them define robust biomarkers, validate novel drug targets, and even develop companion clinical diagnostics,” said Larry Gold, CEO of SomaLogic. “We believe that our technology is uniquely able to address the significant drug discovery and development challenges currently faced by biopharmaceutical companies.”

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

SomaLogic’s proprietary proteomic platform is built on two decades of painstaking work to develop an entirely new generation of specific protein-binding reagents that would break open protein biomarker discovery and development in order to drive new diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities. At the heart of SomaLogic’s technology are “SOMAmers” (Slow-Offrate Modified Aptamers), an entirely novel class of protein-binding reagents. SOMAmers offer a uniquely powerful combination of specific binding to individual proteins and facile nucleic acid-based quantification, allowing accurate detection and measurement of literally thousands of proteins over a vast range of concentrations in just a few drops of blood or other tissues.

SomaLogic researchers describe revolutionary new approach to protein analysis and application to early diagnosis of lung cancer

Methodology potentially broadly applicable across diseases, leading to truly personalized medicine

Boulder CO, December 7, 2010

Even with astounding advances in genomic science, genetic analysis of disease remains largely a measure of risk rather than actual disease state. A truer and more immediate measure of health can be obtained by analysis of proteins, especially those that are “biomarkers” of disease state. Until now, proteomic technologies have lacked the sensitivity, scale, and robustness to untangle the vast differences in protein types and concentration levels that underlie complex human biology and disease. In two papers published on December 7 in the open-access scientific journal PLoS One, researchers at SomaLogic, Inc., and their collaborators describe a revolutionary new approach to biomarker detection and demonstrate its potential diagnostic power in a large-scale study that identifies a panel of biomarkers that can detect lung cancer in its early – and treatable – stages.

“Personalized medicine has to be more than prediction of risk for disease, it has to be actionable; what is the person’s state of health at this moment? To determine that you have to understand what proteins are being made, and at what concentrations, even at very low levels,” said Larry Gold, Founder, Chairman and CEO of SomaLogic. “This has proven to be a difficult task, but we believe we have succeeded at finding a way to entirely transform protein-based diagnostics and help drive the realization of personalized medicine in this decade.”

SomaLogic’s proteomic technology is built on two decades of painstaking work to corral aptamers – short stretches of nucleic acids that form protein-binding three-dimensional structures – into performing exquisitely specific recognition and binding of proteins. Through a series of chemical modifications of the nucleic acids that make up the aptamer, SomaLogic scientists were able to develop a next generation of aptamers – renamed “SOMAmers” to reflect their increased abilities -- that together can bind proteins of widely diverse types and concentrations. And because SOMAmers are essentially small bits of DNA, current DNA measurement technologies like microarrays can be used to measure them and provide a readout of protein or biomarker types and concentrations in a fast and simple analysis. This powerful combination – specific binding to individual proteins and DNA-based quantification  – allows the researchers to accurately detect and measure literally a thousand proteins in as little as a few drops of blood in a single experiment. The first PLoS One paper describes this breakthrough technology in detail, and demonstrates its power through application to samples from patients with chronic kidney disease, finding not only known markers of the disease but many previously unknown protein biomarkers.

“Today, single protein biomarkers are the foundation of clinical diagnostics: but both normal and disease biology is far more complex than a single measurement can capture: We need to look at multiple biomarkers, or a ‘signature’ of proteins, that is truly revealing about health and disease at that moment,” said Steve Williams, Chief Medical Officer of SomaLogic. “The SOMAmer technology empowers us for the first time to measure real biology in a clinically meaningful way.”

In the second PLoS One paper, SomaLogic researchers and their collaborators at multiple sites describe the application of SOMAmers at large scale, uncovering a panel of biomarkers that announce the presence of lung cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths, mostly because it is detected under current technologies only at its latest stages. By applying SOMAmer technology to over 1300 clinical samples, the researchers rapidly identified a panel or “signature” of 12 proteins that together accurately reveal the presence of lung cancer in at-risk patients (e.g., long-term smokers). This finding is the basis for a new diagnostic test under development for clinical application in the next year.

“By being able to detect lung cancer early, we finally have a tool to reduce the morbidity and mortality of this deadly disease with successful surgical intervention,” said William Rom, Professor of Medicine and Environmental Medicine  at NYU School of Medicine and a collaborator on the lung cancer study. “In addition, we can avoid unnecessary treatments in patients who have a lung nodule on CT scan, but which is actually not cancer as revealed by this test.”

SomaLogic’s scalable, flexible and robust SOMAmer-based technology is already being applied to a series of different cancers, as well as infectious, inherited, neurological and metabolic diseases that could be more effectively treated if detected early. It also holds great potential for basic research into cellular biology as well as potential therapeutic applications.

Gold, L., et al.  (2010). “Aptamer-based multiplexed proteomic technology for biomarker discovery,” PLoS One. Available online at http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015004 

Ostroff, R. et al. (2010). “Unlocking biomarker discovery: Large scale application of aptamer proteomic technology for early detection of lung cancer.” PLoS One. Available online at http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015003

NEC and SomaLogic Enter Agreement to Prepare for Delivery of Novel Forms of Health Information via Cloud Services

Partnership seeks to accelerate worldwide clinical use of SomaLogic’s powerful aptamer-based diagnostic technology

Tokyo, Japan & Boulder CO, August 30, 2010

NEC Corporation (NEC) and privately held SomaLogic, Inc. announced today that they have signed an agreement to explore aptamer-related businesses in the life sciences and healthcare markets. In addition, NEC announced that it has made an equity investment in SomaLogic in support of a long-term strategic relationship between the two companies.

The agreement establishes a framework for the two companies to develop and implement applications within NEC’s cloud-based services platform to enhance SomaLogic’s products for life sciences research and diagnostics. Customers will include pharmaceutical companies, research laboratories, and practicing physicians, with the eventual goal of expanding into personal healthcare services.

“NEC is pleased to work with one of the most exciting companies emerging in the field of molecular diagnostics,” said Tadashi Higashino, Senior Vice President, NEC. “We believe that both companies can leverage their unique experiences and integrate them to provide for better healthcare, and thus enhance people’s lives, worldwide.”

SomaLogic has developed a breakthrough proteomics platform for both biomarker discovery and diagnostics applications, which can accurately and reliably detect nearly a thousand proteins to identify disease-associated protein signatures from a single drop of blood (i.e. approximately 15μL). The parties envision integrating this powerful new technology with NEC’s BIOPRISM, the life science research support system, and other NEC data analysis tools, including its SVM+ expertise. “This agreement gives us a firm basis on which to create new possibilities for the future,” said Larry Gold, SomaLogic’s Founder and CEO. “We are delighted with NEC’s foresight, and we look forward to working with our NEC colleagues to find efficient and effective ways to optimize the research and clinical impact of our work.”

SomaLogic Announces Collaboration with Quest Diagnostics to Develop Clinical Diagnostics Applications Using Aptamer Technology

Boulder CO, May 6, 2005

SomaLogic, Inc., a leading clinical proteomics company, today announced that it had entered a technology development agreement with Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services in the U.S. Under the terms of the agreement, Quest Diagnostics will develop new diagnostic tests based on SomaLogic's proprietary aptamer array platform. In addition, Quest Diagnostics has made a $15 million equity investment in SomaLogic. Additional terms of the agreements and timetables for test development were not disclosed.

SomaLogic is using its proprietary aptamer array technology to discover new biomarkers and patterns of biomarkers (or disease signatures) for a range of unmet needs in the area of clinical diagnostics. SomaLogic currently has active development programs in the areas of oncology, as well as cardiovascular, autoimmune, and infectious diseases. Quest Diagnostics will develop clinical diagnostic tests based on these biomarkers and disease signatures.

"As the undisputed leader in diagnostic testing, Quest Diagnostics represents an ideal partner for SomaLogic," said Larry Gold, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of SomaLogic. "Their relationships with doctors, patients and payers across the country will ensure that future diagnostics based on our proprietary technology will reach the broadest possible audience." 

"It is very exciting to be able to participate in the early stage development of diagnostic tests based on SomaLogic's aptamer technology," said Joyce G. Schwartz, M.D., Vice President and Chief Laboratory Officer of Quest Diagnostics. "We are excited about the future potential of clinical proteomics to improve patients' health."