OGI Invests in Prognostic Genetic Test to Improve Stem Cell Transplant Success
Toronto, August 13, 2009 –The Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI), through its Pre-Commercialization Business Development Fund (PBDF), has invested in a research project that is seeking to improve outcomes for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplants, commonly referred to as bone marrow transplants.
Worldwide, some 20,000 HSC transplants are performed each year to treat leukemia, lymphoma, solid tumours and certain inherited diseases like thalassemias and anemias. Transplant failure, graft versus host disease, complications with anti-rejection medications, and the follow-up care required to address them, are a burden for transplant patients as well as private and government health care providers. Additional predictive or “prognostic” tests for stem cell transplant outcomes, based on the individual genetic make-up of potential donors and recipients, could be used to significantly reduce or better manage these burdens. The underlying individual genetic variations, and the molecular interactions they affect, may also provide insights leading to potential new anti-rejection therapeutics.
Project leads Drs. Jayne Danska (The Hospital for Sick Children), John Dick and Jean Wang (both of University Health Network) draw on their experience as internationally-influential scientists applying genomics technologies to understand autoimmune disease, blood cell cancers and cancer stem cells.
With previous funding from Genome Canada through OGI, and resources from other funders, they identified variants in a protein called SIRPα that contributes to the interaction between transplanted blood stem cells and the recipient’s bone marrow environment. The research team has begun a retrospective genetic analysis of association between SIRPα genetic variants and outcomes of HSC transplants in 200 pairs of donors and recipients. With a panel of novel genetic tests they developed, they will develop and validate prognostic genetic tests in HSC transplant donors and recipients and evaluate the predictive power of the detected variations.
“Cellular transplants as well as the larger promise of gene therapy based on cellular transplants will be enabled by an improved understanding of the molecular basis of donor-recipient match,” commented Dr. Christian Burks, President and CEO of OGI. “We are excited to be investing in this team and their application of genomics to personalized medicine to provide patients with tailored treatments based on their genetic make-up.”
“This research is an excellent example of taking research from the bench to the bedside,” commented Dr. Danska. “We are delighted to have received this investment from OGI and look forward to validating these prognostic tests, and to identifying potential commercial partners who will then further develop the validated tests.”
OGI’s PBDF program invests in opportunities — based in genomics, proteomics or associated technologies — that fall in the proof-of-principle (validation) phase of research and that have the short-term potential to secure a significant next step towards the marketplace. Previous recipients have included Ontario universities, research institutes and companies.
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About OGI
The Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) is a private, not-for-profit corporation focused on using world-class research to create strategic genomics resources and accelerate Ontario’s development of a globally-competitive life sciences sector. Through its relationship with Genome Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI), and other private and public sector partners, OGI works to: identify, attract and support investment in Ontario-led genomics research; catalyze access to and the impact of genomics resources; and, raise the visibility of genomics as well as its impact and associated issues.
For more information on OGI, please visit www.OntarioGenomics.ca
OGI media enquiries:
Alastair Harris-Cartwright
Corporate Communications Manager
T: +1 (416) 673-6582.
E: aharriscartwright@OntarioGenomics.ca
PBDF enquiries:
Rhonda Tannenbaum
Director of Business Development
T: +1 (416) 673-6586
E: rtannenbaum@OntarioGenomics.ca
