Since 2010, Exosome Diagnostics GmbH, a subsidiary of Exosome Diagnostics, Inc.(USA), has been residing in the Munich Biotech cluster. Embedding this specialist for molecular diagnostics test for personalised medicine in the Leading-Edge Cluster programme "m4 - Personalized Medicine and Targeted Therapies" was obvious and now Exosome Diagnostics and the Department of Dermatology at the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) have announced the awarding of a EUR one million grant from the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF).
In cooperation with Prof. Carola Berking (LMU), a blood-based diagnostic test will be developed which analyses the mRNA content of exosomes. Exosomes are a special type of microvesicles of cells, which are shed into different bodyfluids (blood, urine, CSF) and have a stable mRNA content. By coupling Next-Generation-Sequencing and qPCR, tumorspecific mutations of patients with malignant tumors can be detected, even with a high background of normal or wild-type exosomes. Repeated blood and urine measurements are minimally invasive and can provide critical information on a tumor’s genetic status over time, through the course of treatment and recurrence.
press release of Exosome Diagnostics