SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 28, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crescendo Bioscience is pleased to participate in the Buzz of BIO, at the 2013 BIO International Convention. Hosted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), this year's global event for biotechnology will take place April 22-25, 2013 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. During the Buzz of BIO contest, industry leaders will be voting for companies they want to see at the event's BIO Business Forum. Voting will take place from March 26th to April 3rd online at convention.bio.org/buzz.
"We are very excited to be nominated for the Buzz of BIO. Crescendo Bioscience is the epitome of innovation, forging a union between personalized medicine and technology," said William A. Hagstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer of Crescendo Bioscience. "Our novel, objective and reproducible blood test for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Vectra™ DA, not only measures the current state of a patient's RA disease activity, but it can be used to assess and quantify changes in disease activity over time, which helps physicians to better understand how well a patient is responding to therapy. It is our hope that the use of Vectra DA will change the way RA is managed today by helping to minimize the use of ineffective treatments, thus limiting disease progression and irreversible structural damage."
Vectra DA is a precise, objective multi-biomarker blood test validated to assess disease activity in RA. Vectra DA simultaneously measures 12 immune, endothelial, bone, cartilage and metabolic biomarkers that reflect the underlying biology of RA. Serum concentrations of the biomarkers are integrated into a proprietary algorithm that generates a single score from 1 to 100, classifying disease activity as low, moderate or high. Vectra DA can be used to provide a baseline assessment of RA disease activity and can help track changes in disease activity in newly diagnosed RA patients or after therapy initiation or change. All testing is performed at Crescendo Bioscience's state-of–the-art CLIA-certified laboratory.
As part of its commitment to providing disease information services, Crescendo Bioscience developed MyRA™. MyRA is a free mobile app for people living with RA that was designed to empower patients to regularly track multiple aspects of their RA and easily share the information with their doctors. MyRA was recently featured on Apple iTunes as "New and Noteworthy."
About Crescendo Bioscience, Inc.
Crescendo Bioscience is a molecular diagnostics company focused in rheumatology and located in South San Francisco, CA. Crescendo Bioscience develops quantitative, objective, blood tests to provide rheumatologists with deeper clinical insights to help enable more effective management of patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. For more information, please visit the company's website at http://www.CrescendoBio.com.
About the BIO International Convention
The BIO International Convention will highlight the latest trends and the newest opportunities for executives, investors, scientists, policy leaders, and media from around the world. Speakers at the sessions will share breakthroughs in medicine, diagnostics, the environment, energy production, business operations, financing, partnerships, policy issues and food and agriculture. The Convention also features the BIO Business Forum, a unique platform for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, academic research institutions, and investors from around the world to gather and discuss strategic opportunities. For registration, conference agenda and exhibitor information, visit convention.bio.org.