Ciphergen and Quest to Develop Arterial Disease Dx

Ciphergen and Quest Diagnostics plan to jointly develop a blood-based test for the detection of peripheral artery disease.

 

The deal is the second of a three-part alliance the firms formed last year in which Quest will use Ciphergen’s SELDI-based ProteinChip technology to create the test. The first incarnation resulted in a test that triages ovarian cancer.

 

As part of that deal, Quest bought a 17-percent stake in Ciphergen and agreed to a five-year warrant to by another 2.2 million shares at $3.50 a share, for an aggregate of $15 million.

 

Under that alliance, Quest also agreed to loan Ciphergen as much as $10 million for research expenses, which would be forgiven based on milestone achievements.  

 

Today, Ciphergen President and CEO Gail Page said the ovarian tumor test is “making excellent progress.”

 

Ciphergen said it is developing the PAD blood test with Stanford University. The company said that 75 percent of the people who suffer from PAD, which is caused by arterial plaque, do not experience symptoms, which could make an early warning test valuable.  

 

Financial terms of this agreement were not released.

 

Source from GenomeWeb Daily News