Purdue researchers have developed an advanced technology that provides highly accurate tests for early cancer diagnosis and potentially for quickly determining the effectiveness of drug treatments.

Press Release

West Lafayette, Ind. -- A new Purdue University-licensed technology to improve early cancer diagnosis is being developed by MatrixBio LLC, a Purdue Research Park company.

The company has just received seed round funding from the Main Street Venture Fund, located in Fort Wayne, Ind., which will allow the company to further develop its diagnostic tests and to proceed with its second phase of clinical trials. Main Street Venture Fund is part of Ruffolo Benson LLC, a private equity firm in Indiana.

MatrixBio was founded by Daniel Raftery, a Purdue University College of Science professor of analytical and physical chemistry and a researcher at the Bindley Bioscience Center in Purdue's Discovery Park.

"Early cancer detection provides more options for treatment and increases the probability of successful therapeutic interventions," Raftery said. "Our goal for MatrixBio is to be a leading provider of metabolite-based testing in the fast-growing diagnostic testing market."

Raftery and his co-workers have developed an advanced "metabolite profiling" technology that provides highly accurate tests for early cancer diagnosis and potentially for quickly determining the effectiveness of drug treatments.

"We use a combination of powerful analytical methods that we believe can detect cancer at its earliest stages," said Raftery, who initiated his company through the Burton D. Morgan's Innovation Realization Laboratory. "The procedure is noninvasive, accurate and reliable in identifying biomarkers for early cancer diagnoses."

Researchers at MatrixBio will analyze multiple small-molecule metabolite biomarkers that are present in blood and urine. These biomarkers are detected sensitively and quantitatively to provide high test accuracy, Raftery said. The combined use of several metabolite biomarkers is used to diagnose cancer at its earliest stages, which provides more options for effective therapy.

Raftery's company also was one of three companies selected in March during the Fundraising Boot Camp at Purdue's Discovery Park to present before Silicon Valley venture capital firms in California. The other firms, also based on Purdue technology, were M4 Sciences Corp. and BioVitesse Inc.

The 725-acre Purdue Research Park has the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country. The park is home to more than 140 companies. About 90 of these firms are technology-related and another 57 are incubator businesses. The park was ranked No. 1 in 2004 for university-affiliated research parks and received the 2005 Outstanding Commercialization Award, both from the Association of University Research Parks. The park's companies also have received numerous recognitions including a 2006 MIRA Award: Innovation of the Year for Purdue Research Park/Quadraspec Inc. and a 2005 CoreNet Global Innovators Award finalist.

Source: Purdue University