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Summary

A small company from Samara has developed a technology for monitoring hepatic fibrosis suffered by patients with chronic B and C hepatitis. The technology includes a technique for non-invasive taking of tests that allow defining a stage of the pathologic process and further optimization of therapeutic methods of treatment for chronic viral hepatitis. The company searches for partners for a joint venture or commercial agreement with technical assistance.

Full description

Identification of a hepatic fibrosis stage is especially important in the context of chronic B and C hepatitis, since they are the leading reasons for developing ominous conditions (cirrhosis and cancer) and they define the need for expensive treatment and liver transplantation. Thus, most important becomes an early diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis (development of connective tissue) before forming cirrhosis itself.
With chronic B and C hepatitis, immune mechanisms determine the formation of fibrotic changes in liver, and one of the leading immune system components in hepatic fibrosis development is presented by a specific kind of lymphoid cells. On the base of this mechanism, the small Russian company has developed a technology that includes two noninvasive immune tests to diagnose the stages of the hepatic fibrosis within chronic B and C hepatitis. The researches proved that the diagnostic accuracy of the offered immune tests does not depend on such factors as patient’s sex and age, viral load and VHC gene pattern. The offered technology allows timely diagnostics of evolving hepatic fibrosis against the background of chronic B and C hepatitis, and to prescribe a proper treatment with account for the stage of the disease.
The developers have got 12 years’ experience in R&D of pharmaceutical drugs and diagnostic products. They also have had 85 scientific publications (for the last 3 years) and a patent.

Innovative Aspects

The noninvasive technology of monitoring hepatic fibrosis suffered by patients with chronic hepatitis is based upon determining the number of specific lymphoid cells in patient’s blood.

The offered technology has got the following advantages:
- reducing the frequency of cirrhosis development in cases of chronic B and C hepatitis from 20% down to 5%;
- increasing life time of the patients suffering from chronic B and C hepatitis up to 15-20 years;
- increasing an able-bodied period of such patients up to 5-10 years;
- reducing the frequency of unreasonable drugs prescriptions and the cost of medical treatment;
- reducing cases of disability due to development of cirrhosis from 15% down to 3%;
- improving life quality of those patients with positive diagnoses due to timely rational therapy.
In comparison with other liver malfunctions’ diagnostic methods (live-biopsy, elasticity tests, fibro-tests) the presented technology turns out to be noninvasive, time-saving, non-demanding to medical personnel’s qualifications (the level of a lab technician is sufficient), to have no contrindications revealed, and to have a high diagnostic accuracy.

Partner expertise sought:

- Type of partner sought: Industry, R&D laboratories, hospitals, private clinics
- Specific area of activity of the partner: manufacturers of medical materials, medicine, hepatology
- Task to be performed by the partner sought: The manufacturers are invited to produce a set of pharmaceutical drugs for noninvasive immune tests to diagnose the stages of hepatic fibrosis.
Laboratories, hospitals, private clinics can use the technology of immune tests in their practice.