Mount Sinai research leads to earlier detection of preeclampsia Expectant moms will know earlier whether they have preeclampsia, thanks to a new licensing agreement involving a team at Mount Sinai Hospital. Mount Sinai’s Office of Technology Transfer and Industrial Liaison recently announced a new licensing agreement with Inverness Medical Innovations to use the biomarker endoglin to develop diagnostic tools for the detection and management of preeclampsia in expectant mothers.
| |  | | Dr. Isabella Caniggia |
“Preeclampsia complicates seven to 10 per cent of all pregnancies and is the leading cause of fetal and maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide,” says Dr. Isabella Caniggia, Principal Investigator and leading research authority on placental development and preeclampsia at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital. “The earlier preeclampsia is detected, the better the chances for improved health of both mother and child.” Inverness Medical Innovations’ and Mount Sinai Hospital’s licensing agreement will see Inverness develop a diagnostic test that could be available in less than five years. Potentially, physicians will use a point-of-care kit to detect and measure increased levels of the biomarker endoglin in expectant mothers at increased risk of preeclampsia. The licensing agreement is a direct result of leading-edge biomedical research conducted by Toronto scientists Dr. Caniggia and Dr. Stephen Lye of the Lunenfeld and Dr. Martin Post of the Hospital for Sick Children who are co-inventors of the licensed patent rights. “By linking our excellence in research and patient care with industry leaders in product development and, in particular, health management, we can ensure that our discoveries and insights result in innovative products and services for improved health care, disease prevention and healthy mothers and babies,” says Terry Donaghue, Director of Mount Sinai’s Office of Technology Transfer and Industrial Liaison. Preeclampsia affects three million mothers worldwide every year and is associated with premature births and infant illness including cerebral palsy, blindness, epilepsy, deafness and lung conditions. There is no cure for preeclampsia and the cause is unknown. It is estimated that preeclampsia costs the global health care system $3 billion U.S. per year.
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