Olink Bioscience introduces a 92-protein biomarker panel for inflammatory diseases

Uppsala, Sweden, July 1st, 2014 – Molecular tools specialist Olink Bioscience today launched Proseek® Multiplex Inflammation I 96x96, a new protein biomarker panel that targets a wide range of inflammatory diseases. This panel complements the existing panels directed against Oncology and Cardiovascular diseases in a growing collection. Proseek Multiplex Inflammation I 96x96 will be an important tool in the search for new multivariate protein expression patterns that could serve as biomarkers to improve prediction and prognosis of inflammatory diseases, as well as discovery of new drug targets.

Inflammatory mechanisms are involved in many types of diseases where the immune system creates a chronic inflammation often resulting in functional impairment of organs. Rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, irritable bowel diseases, and asthma are examples of such diseases. The inflammatory response also plays a major role in other diseases such as cardiovascular disorders, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Chronic immune system disorders affect millions of people every year, and there is a great unmet need in predicting the efficacy of treatment options at individual level. It is crucial to find new biomarkers to meet these needs in personalized medicine but also for better healthcare in general through improving diagnostic and prognostic tools.

“With the launch of our next exciting multiplex immunoassay panel we are another step closer to the vision of identifying protein profiles that will change the way we prevent, diagnose and treat diseases. Proseek Multiplex makes anyone with access to biological material able to screen for protein biomarker profiles in an exceptionally efficient way.” says Andrea Ballagi, Chief Operating Officer at Olink Bioscience.

Proseek Multiplex Inflammation I 96x96 is a high throughput multiplex immunoassay that efficiently measures 92 inflammation-related proteins across 96 samples (including controls) simultaneously in only one microliter of serum or plasma. When used in combination with Fluidigm’s Biomark TM HD system, a high throughput real-time PCR platform, it enables researchers to analyze thousands of samples per week, which greatly accelerates the speed of discovery of new protein biomarkers. 

“We are very pleased with the initial results obtained with Proseek Multiplex Inflammation I 96x96. We have already found several interesting biomarker candidates and we will now extend our study to compare the results with other available panels. Proseek Multiplex Inflammation I 96x96 is certainly a promising tool for future use in rheumatoid arthritis” say Professor Lars Klareskog and Assoc.Prof. Anca Catrina, Rheumatology clinic and research unit, Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet,

The Proseek Multiplex Inflammation I 96x96 panel comprises established inflammatory markers as well as a few proteins with great potential to become new biomarkers for inflammatory disorders. The content of the panel has been designed in close collaboration with experts in various inflammatory disease fields such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, neuro inflammation, and respiratory diseases. The panel is therefore well suited to elucidating protein expression profiles in clinically relevant samples. Proseek Multiplex Inflammation I 96x96 is the third panel from Olink Bioscience. 

Proseek Multiplex is based on the proprietary Proximity Extension Assay (PEA) technology developed by Olink Bioscience. PEA is a homogeneous assay that uses pairs of antibodies equipped with DNA reporter molecules which upon target binding give rise to new DNA amplicons, each ID-barcoding their respective antigens. Cross-reactive events are not detected since the sequence design allows only the correctly matched antibody pairs to give rise to a signal. The amplicons are subsequently quantified by high throughput real-time PCR.

For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.