New Faculty for Imaging Biomarkers Research

Siemens recently launched Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics as the in vitro complement to the product range after the acquisitions of Bayer Diagnostics and Los Angeles, CA, USA-based Diagnostic Products Corp.

Siemens Medical Solutions MI Biomarker Research facility will be dedicated solely to the discovery and development of new imaging biomarkers to spur the growth of in vivo molecular diagnostics. Imaging biomarkers are molecules that are specifically designed to seek out disease indicators that may appear in individual cells or tissue in the organism and that may provide early warning signs of disease. Once these imaging biomarkers bind to the diseased cells or tissues, they cause them to "light up” when scanned using positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) or
(single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT-CT).

Imaging biomarkers not only enable early diagnosis, but also allow the measurement of how well certain therapies, such as prescription drugs, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, may be working by measuring the impact of treatments on the disease indicators. This may help in the development of new therapies, and enable clinicians to non-invasively evaluate therapeutic success and rapidly modify therapeutic approaches to arrive at optimum outcomes.

The new Siemens' facility will be led by Hartmuth Kolb, Ph.D, vice president, Siemens Medical Solutions MI Biomarker Research. The facility will house scientists, geared to the discovery of new imaging agents and their clinical development, with the goal of bringing several new agents to the market over the next 5-10 years. Research and development efforts conducted at the facility will focus primarily on oncology and neurology, and also include other areas such as inflammation and microfluidics/nanotechnology research.

The facility features the latest technology in molecular medicine applied across its research range of systems, including the facility's discovery chemistry lab, in vitro biology lab, preclinical imaging lab, clean room for microfluidics research, instrument room for microfluidics development, and a PET radiochemistry lab.

In addition to continued work on the new research imaging agent to aid in Alzheimer's detection, the Siemens Medical Solutions MI Biomarker Research team has a number of oncology-related compounds in the discovery and translational research field, which are moving towards clinical development. In collaboration with academia and industry, molecular imaging tracers for cell proliferation (imaging of aggressive tumors), hypoxia (to aid the planning of radiation therapy), and angiogenesis (to aid chemotherapy) are currently being developed. Future research will branch out into neurology and cardiovascular disease areas.




Related Links:
Siemens Medical Solutions