Diagnosing Antiphospholipid Syndrome

SLU ID 22-003 | A diagnostic test for anti-prothrombin antibodies

Intellectual Property Status

Seeking

  • Non-patented intellectual property

  • Know-how based

  • Licensee

  • Development partner

  • Commercial partner

  • Investment

  • University spin out

Background

Diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) can be difficult because the symptoms are similar to those for multiple sclerosis (National Health Service, 2021). APS is a rare disease with fewer than 200,000 U.S. cases diagnosed per year (Google, 2021). APS occurs in about 2 persons per 100,000 population per year adn the estimated prevalence is about 50 per 100,000 population (Duarte-Garcia, Pham, Crowson, Amin, Moder, Pruthi, Warrington, & Matteson, 2019). Autoantibodies targeting the clotting factor prothrombin (aPT) are an emerging biomarker in antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) patients. However, their detection has proven difficult to standardize, thus limiting clinical adoption.

Overview

Researchers at Saint Louis University (SLU) have developed a robust, easy-to-perform and cost-effective ELISA assay to improve the identification of aPT. This method may find utility for detecting pathogenic aPT in APS as well as other prothrombotic conditions where aPT have been found, such as infectious diseases like COVID-19. SLU researchers have demonstrated proof of concept with laboratory scale prototypes or in vitro experiments. Clinical validation on a larger cohort of patients is currently underway.

Benefits

The potential benefits of this technology include:

  • Minimizing the uncertainty of APS diagnoses.

  • Minimizing the time required to diagnose APS.

  • Minimizing the risk of misdiagnosing APS.

  • Minimizing the cost of diagnosing APS.

Applications

Potential applications of this technology include:

  • Diagnosing and treating anitphospholipid syndrome.

  • Detecting pathogenic aPT in other prothrombotic conditions such as COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

Opportunity

Saint Louis University is seeking a partner to further develop and commercialize this technology.

References

Duarte-Garcia, A., Pham, M. M., Crowson, C. S., Amin, S., Mder, K. G., Pruthi, R. K., Warrington, K. J., & Matteson, E. L. (2019). The epidemiology of antiphospholipid syndrome: A population-based study. Arthritis & rheumatology, 71(9), 1545-1552. doi: 10.1002/art.40901.

Google. (2021). Antiphospholipid syndrome. Retrieved October 11, 2021 from https://www.google.com/search?q=Antiphospholipid+Syndrome&source=hp&ei=QVhkYcr2FaSzqtsPn_el4Ac&iflsig=ALs-wAMAAAAAYWRmUej_Gytz-tD5FGI245G7Cwx0We1v&ved=0ahUKEwiKm62d1sLzAhWkmWoFHZ97CXwQ4dUDCAg&uact=5&oq=Antiphospholipid+Syndrome&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyCAgAEIAEELEDMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEUIaZAViGmQFgv6QBaAJwAHgAgAGVAogBlQKSAQMyLTGYAQCgAQKgAQGwAQA&sclient=gws-wiz

National Health Service. (2021, August 21). Overview: Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Retrieved October 11, 2021 from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/antiphospholipid-syndrome/