Nanogen Acquires Rights to Schizophrenia Data

Nanogen Inc. (NGEN), a San Diego-based diagnostics firm, has acquired the rights to genetic markers related to schizophrenia and responses to anti psychotic therapies. This is an important step in better understanding the molecular basis of the disease, as the genetic component of schizophrenia is thought to account for 65-80% of cases.

Leveraging its NanoChip technology, which allows for easy implementation of customized assays, Nanogen struck the deal with the Co-operative Research Centre for Diagnostics and Queensland University of Technology in Australia. The acquired markers will be used to create diagnostic tests for schizophrenia and related conditions; some may also help predict adverse drug reactions and guide therapeutic decision making.

Through a similar partnership initiated back in 2005, Nanogen is collaborating with Jurilab, a Finnish firm, to investigate genetic markers associated with Acute Myocardial Infarction, hypertension and type-2 diabetes.

Schizophrenia — a chronic, disabling brain disorder that occurs in about 1% of the population, and is responsible for more than 10% of all disabled people in the U.S. and 2.5% of U.S. health care expenditures — is believed to be caused by mutations in multiple genes. Effective diagnostics require analytic methods capable of examining multiple genes simultaneously.

Nanogen’s electronic micro array platforms provide an alternative to traditional, real-time polymerase chain reaction — a method of duplicating small amounts of DNA to assess its makeup — through multi-sample and multi-analyte reporting capabilities.

The company’s NanoChip 400 system has been CE Marked in Europe, and the NanoChip platform has been submitted for 501(k) clearance in the U.S.

NGEN 1-yr. chart: