. Drug and diagnostic product developer Compugen Ltd. (Nasdaq: CGEN; TASE: CGEN) said today that it had found and experimentally confirmed a genetic biomarker, CGEN-40001, for predisposition to type 2 diabetes.
The new biomarker was discovered using Tel Aviv-based Compugen’s GeneVa platform, which consists of an in silico database of approximately 350,000 predicted genetic variations in the human genome.
Predisposition markers are of particular value in diseases like type 2 diabetes, where specific lifestyle and health factors are known to play an important role. Following diagnosis, high-risk patients may benefit from more aggressive management either through lifestyle modification or drug treatment. There are an estimated 24 million people in the US with diabetes, 90% of whom have type 2 diabetes.
From the approximately 350,000 multiple nucleotide genetic variations predicted by the GeneVa platform, a very small set of 135 variations was selected as being potentially related to type 2 diabetes in Caucasians. Compugen studied this set and found a specific enzyme CGEN-4001 which demonstrated the predicted correlation with type 2 diabetes in Caucasians. Lab studies showed that adding the the enzyme increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 50-80%.
About 8% of the US population currently has diabetes, 90% of whom are affected by type 2 diabetes. According to Compugen, over 150 million people around the world are estimated to have this disorder, and the figure is expected to double by 2025.
Last week, Compugen reported that it signed a research and license agreement with a leading diagnostic company covering CGEN-226, a novel biomarker candidate for early detection of preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is the most common of the dangerous pregnancy complications, occurring in 5-8% of all pregnancies, with potentially very serious effects for both the mother and the fetus. For competitive reasons, the diagnostic company requested that their identity not be disclosed.
Shares in Compugen closed yesterday at $2.43, giving a market cap of $69.4 million. The share ended 2008 at $0.43.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 9, 2009
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2009