London--(Marketwire - July 23, 2007) -
Curidium Medica plc
("Curidium" or the "Company")
CURIDIUM TRADEMARKS "PsychINDx" AS NAME FOR ITS BLOOD DIAGNOSTIC TEST FOR
SCHIZOPHRENIA/BIPOLAR DISORDER PATIENT SUBGROUPS
London, UK, 16 July 2007, Curidium Medica plc, (LSE: CUR), the personalized
medicine company focused on bringing the right drug to the right patient, today
announced that it has filed worldwide trademark applications for PsychINDxTM as
the name for its diagnostic test to classify patients with schizophrenia/bipolar
disorder into four subgroups. The development of the test was announced
previously by the Company. Curidium believes that PsychINDxTM may have the
potential to improve the treatment of schizophrenic/bipolar disorder patients
and may support the development of new drug treatments targeted for the
different schizophrenia/bipolar disorder patient subgroups.
For further information please contact:
Anne Bruinvels +44 (0) 20 7554 8790
CEO, Curidium Medica plc
Rob Smith +44 (0) 20 7554 8793
Finance Director, Curidium Medica plc
Rhodri Cruwys / Romil Patel +44 (0) 20 7448 4400
Blue Oar Securities Plc
Billy Clegg / Edward Westropp / Anna Keeble + 44 (0)20 7831 3113
Financial Dynamics
Notes to Editors
PsychINDxTM
PsychINDxTM is Curidium's schizophrenia/bipolar disorder diagnostic blood test
that classifies patients into different subgroups which are each associated with
distinct underlying disease mechanisms and specific drug targets. The gene
expression-based test was designed using Curidium's Homomatrix® technology.
Homomatrix®
Homomatrix® is an analysis tool that uses proprietary pattern recognition
tools and sequences of mathematical algorithms together with state-of-the-art
statistical methods to objectively analyze large sets of gene expression and
biological data from heterogeneous populations. These analyses can potentially
lead to the development of diagnostics that identify treatment-responsive
patients and/or patient subgroups, signaling pathways as well as drug targets.
It is anticipated that Homomatrix® could be of significant value in the drug
development arena where the "most likely to respond" patients could be
pre-selected to clinical trials.
Schizophrenia/Bipolar Disorder
Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized in the active phase by
hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thoughts/speech, disorganized or
catatonic behavior, and apathy. It is estimated that 1% of the general
population suffers from schizophrenia.
Bipolar affective disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a mental
illness involving episodes of serious mania and depression. The person's mood
usually swings from overly "high" and irritable to sad and hopeless, and then
back again, with periods of normal mood in between. It is estimated that 0.5% of
the general population suffers from bipolar affective disorder.
The global market for antipsychotics, which are used to treat schizophrenia and
frequently bipolar affective disorder, was valued at $12.5 billion in 2004 and
is expected to grow to $20.5 billion by 2009 (The CNS Market Outlook to 2010,
Reuters Business Insights, 2005).
Further information about schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder can be
found at
www.schizophrenia.com or
www.moodswing.org.
Curidium Medica
Curidium is a personalized medicine company identifying targeted medicines and
companion diagnostics to treat patients more effectively.
Curidium's initial focus on diseases of the Central Nervous System has resulted
in the identification of a blood diagnostic test, PsychINDxTM, which classifies
patients with schizophrenia/bipolar disorder into four subgroups. PsychINDxTM
may have the potential to improve the treatment of schizophrenic/bipolar
disorder patients and may support the development of new drug treatments
targeted for the different patient subgroups.
Many chronic human diseases are heterogeneous and patient populations consist of
mixed subgroups. Through the use of its proprietary analysis tool, Homomatrix
®, Curidium aims to reveal different patient subgroups characterized by
distinct underlying disease mechanisms potentially leading to the identification
of:
1) Diagnostics to differentiate between distinct patient subgroups
within a heterogeneous disease population,
2) Novel drug targets that are specific to a patients subgroup, and
3) Companion diagnostics and related targeted treatments for one or more
of the patient subgroups.
Curidium aims to continue to use this approach to improve patient treatments in
a variety of therapeutic areas.
Further information on Curidium can be found at the Company's website:
www.curidium.com.
Curidium Medica plc (c) 2002-2007. All rights reserved.
Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BB, United Kingdom.
Email: info@curidium.com Tel.: +44 (0)20 7554 8790,
Fax: +44 (0)20 7554 8791
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange