Caprion Announces Agreement To In-License Xpresys® Lung From Indi® For Canadian Commercialization

MONTREAL, Feb. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Caprion announced today an exclusive agreement to in-license Xpresys Lung in Canada from Indi (Integrated Diagnostics^®). Xpresys Lung is a breakthrough, molecular diagnostic blood test that assists with the management of indeterminate lung nodules. The clinical laboratory developed test is currently only available in the United States and provides physicians with objective information to identify nodules with a high probability of being benign – potentially reducing unnecessary invasive procedures, which may be risky for the patient and costly to the healthcare system.

"Xpresys Lung is an important addition to our clinical laboratory service business and enables us to provide new diagnostic tools for physicians in Canada which may aid them in reducing unnecessary invasive procedures for benign lung nodules -- generating economic efficiencies for our healthcare system," said Martin LeBlanc, chief executive officer, Caprion. "We look forward to offering physicians and patients access to this cutting-edge molecular diagnostic test from our clinical laboratory in Montreal."

"Indi's agreement enables Caprion to deploy our proven, standardized proteomic Xpresys Lung laboratory service in their own facility, equivalent to our CLIA laboratory in the U.S.," said Albert A. Luderer, Ph.D., chief executive officer, Indi.

The agreement marks the continuation of a long-standing collaboration between Indi and Caprion, which began with Caprion as an early partner of Indi in the proteomics clinical discovery of Xpresys Lung.

Caprion will hold the exclusive rights to market and commercialize Xpresys Lung in Canada, beginning with Quebec. Caprion will pay Indi royalties and several milestone payments. Exact financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Caprion has received support for its Canadian Xpresys Lung commercial efforts from the Government of Quebec as part of the Personalized Medicine Partnership for Cancer (PMPC), a public-private partnership led by Caprion and focused on clinical biomarkers and personalized healthcare solutions to improve the outcome and cost-efficiency of healthcare services provided to cancer patients in the province of Quebec (www.pmpc-org.com).

About Xpresys Lung

Xpresys Lung is a breakthrough protein expression blood test developed to provide physicians with a solution to a major medical dilemma in the United States—the overtreatment of benign lung nodules. Today, it is estimated millions of pulmonary nodules are discovered each year; after traditional assessment protocols, which include biopsies and surgeries, most of these nodules are classified as benign. Xpresys Lung allows for the non-invasive assessment of pulmonary nodules in the 8-30 mm size range; traditionally, nodules of this size are associated with significant diagnostic uncertainty.

The blood test measures the relative abundance of proteins from multiple pathways associated with lung cancer, using a highly sensitive analytic technique called multiple reaction monitoring mass spectroscopy (MRM-mass spec).

Xpresys Lung is supported by a landmark clinical validation study published in The Journal of Thoracic Oncology in January 2015 and two studies published in Science Translational Medicine on October 2013. Click here to access the STM study.

About Caprion

Caprion is the leading provider of proteomics and immune monitoring services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Caprion uses its proprietary ImmuneCarta^®, immune monitoring technology to perform multiparametric flow cytometry for functional analyses of innate and adaptive immune responses. Caprion's proprietary ProteoCarta^™ proteomics technology uses gel-free, label-free mass spectrometry (MS) to perform comprehensive, quantitative and robust comparative measurement of proteins across large sets of biological samples. Caprion leverages ProteoCarta for the discovery and validation of protein biomarkers as a service to its multiple industry clients and also to develop its own in-vitro diagnostic products targeting cancer, metabolic and infectious diseases. With research sites in Montreal, Canada and in Menlo Park, CA, Caprion has been providing large-scale proteomics and immune monitoring services to over 50 major pharmaceutical and biotech clients for more than 10 years. Caprion, a privately-held company, is majority owned by Chicago Growth Partners. For more information, please visit www.caprion.com. 

About Indi

Indi (Integrated Diagnostics) is redefining molecular diagnostics and creating powerful new tools for physicians to non-invasively assess and more effectively manage complex diseases to improve patient outcomes, reduce complications, and lessen costs to the healthcare system. With the company's first breakthrough test, Xpresys Lung, which measures multiple blood proteins and identifies lung nodules with a high probability of being benign, physicians have the potential to reduce risks and the need for unnecessary invasive procedures.

The company was co-founded in October 2009 by systems-biology pioneer Dr. Lee Hood, who recently received the National Medal of Science from the U.S. government. His groundbreaking research is based on a systems biology approach, which measures hundreds of protein biomarkers found in blood to report on the physiological state of the body's 50 major organs, such as the lungs.

Backers include Baird Capital, InterWest Partners, Life Sciences Alternative Financing and the Wellcome Trust. Foundational intellectual property is exclusively licensed from the Institute for Systems Biology and Caltech. Learn more at www.indidx.com.

SOURCE Caprion