July 30, 2019

Progentec Diagnostics announced it has been awarded a Fast-Track Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for new biomarker research. The grant has the potential to provide $1.7 million in resources supporting clinical research to see how well lab tests based on biomarkers in the blood can measure and predict active disease.

Biomarkers are critical to diagnosing and monitoring lupus as well as predicting and potentially preventing flares. The Lupus Research Alliance has invested in more than 20 projects to find and test effective biomarkers. For instance,  discoveries are coming out of a Novel Research Grant to Dr. Andrea Knight at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Knight is developing a new biomarker to better detect and diagnose psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety that are common in kids with lupus so they can receive treatment and get relief sooner.

Most recently we awarded our Lupus Insight Prize to allow Dr. Virginia Pascual, Director of the Drukier Institute for Children’s Health at Weill Cornell Medicine to identify biomarkers of the earliest stages of disease activity. This research may uncover targets for the development of new drugs that can potentially block lupus flares before the disease damages vital organs.