NEW YORK – German metabolomics firm Lifespin said Monday that it has entered a collaboration agreement with Biobank Graz and the Clinical Division of Oncology of the Medical University of Graz to access clinical samples for cancer research.
Under the agreement, Regensburg, Germany-based Lifespin will gain access to more than 25,000 longitudinal blood samples from roughly 4,800 cancer patients that it will analyze using its NMR-based metabolomics platform.
"We are excited about this very important partnership with the Medical University and with Biobank of Med Uni Graz, which we anticipate will be an aperture for further joint programs," Lifespin CEO Ali Tinazli said in a statement.
"The extraordinary depth of the data we will be able to analyze as a result of this important agreement will not only allow us to gain further insights to detect malignant diseases earlier, but will also provide valuable information on metabolic changes in cancer patients over time," Tinazli added. This in turn, he noted, will enable a better understanding of individual treatment response and, and will improve patient monitoring and follow-up.
"Our scientific cooperation with Lifespin supports our central goal as physician scientists to apply translational cancer research towards clinical diagnostics and treatment implementations," Philipp Jost, director of the clinical division of oncology at the Medical University of Graz and member of the steering board of the Biobank Graz, said in a statement. "The Lifespin platform enables us to conduct metabolic analysis of samples from cancer patients at unprecedented depth and speed, providing a very important steppingstone for detecting cancer earlier and monitoring treatment responses more efficiently."
Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.