Xenomics Announces License With Warnex Of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Assay

Main Category: Lymphoma / Leukemia
Article Date: 26 Feb 2008 - 1:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Xenomics, Inc. (Pink Sheets:XNOM, FWB:XE7) announces that it has granted Warnex Medical Laboratories, a division of Warnex Inc., nonexclusive rights in Canada to offer NPM1 testing as a laboratory service for the diagnosis, stratification and monitoring of patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

AML is a clinically heterogeneous disease with about 200,000 new cases per year worldwide. The disease subgrouping by karyotypic abnormalities indicates patient prognosis. However, in almost half of AML cases the karyotype appears normal and provides no guide for the physician. A recent discovery by Drs. Falini and Mecucci showed that many AML patients have mutations in the NPM1 gene, a favorable marker for clinical outcome. Xenomics holds exclusive rights to the discovery and has nonexclusively sublicensed its diagnostic applications to Warnex to offer clinical testing. The results of such a test will help physicians select patients with a good prognosis of benefiting from intensive chemotherapy, while sparing others with a low probability of benefit from the toxic treatment.

The NPM1 mutation may also be used to monitor AML patients for residual disease during chemotherapy. Stratification of AML patients is also necessary for anti-AML drug clinical trials.

About Xenomics, Inc.

Xenomics is a molecular diagnostics company developing tests based on Transrenal DNA and safe, simple urine collection techniques. The Company believes its patented technology has a broad range of applications, including prenatal testing, infectious disease detection and tumor detection, among others, and can open significant new markets in the molecular diagnostics field. More information is available on the Company's website, http://www.xenomics.com.

About Warnex

Warnex is a life sciences company devoted to protecting public health by providing laboratory services to the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. Warnex's analytical services division provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with a variety of quality control services, including traditional chemistry, chromatography, microbiology, method development and validation, and stability studies. Warnex's bioanalytical services division specializes in bioequivalence and bioavailability studies for clinical trials. Warnex's medical laboratories division focuses on genetic and biochemical testing for the healthcare industry and has extensive expertise in genetic testing for human identification, molecular diagnostics, and pharmacogenetics.

http://www.warnex.ca

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements about the Company's expectations, applications of its technology, markets, and other statements that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are based on management's current beliefs, assumptions, estimates and projections. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements for various reasons, including risks associated with product development, government regulation, market acceptance, dependence on key personnel, obtaining financing and other factors discussed in Xenomics' Form 10-KSB filed on May 16, 2006 and other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

http://www.warnex.ca