Zimmer and Peacock are committed to the develop and manufacturing of point of care companion diagnostics for our partners in the biotech fields.
Modern Immunotherapy is a powerful biopharmaceutical strategy that promises major advances and even cures for various intractable illnesses such as Cancer, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Donor Organ Rejection and more. Successes include complete remission and these have been well publicized. Although some patients fully recover, there is almost always a small group that exhibit serious irreversible and even deadly toxicity due to the powerful biological activity of the drugs. There are numerous clinical trials and approved therapies that have been delayed or terminated. Companies have gone out of business because of this problem. Companion Diagnostics (CDx) are a bioanalytical strategy to detect toxicity and efficacy biomarkers to adjust or terminate therapy before the patient or subject is adversely affected.
CDx’s are usually designed to detect biological markers- proteins or nucleic acids. These biomarkers require complicated procedures that are best performed in a laboratory setting, performed by trained technologists. The tests often require expensive robotically controlled instruments and detection based on optics or mass spectrometry. Patients need to be scheduled for testing, frequently at a time when the toxicity is not evident or imminent. Point-of-Care as envisioned by Zimmer and Peacock uses the same biological methods as found in the laboratory, however microfluidics using electrochemical detection methods are much less expensive, use less power, and are miniaturized. These systems can be easily placed near a patient in the hospital, clinic and even at home to monitor and detect severe toxicity events when they occur. Patient or caregiver training is minimal.
If you are a biopharmaceutical company and have a CDx, then Z&P can design and manufacture a POC device that you can provide with your biological drug at your subjects’ homes to detect adverse events before they become deadly. If you are in clinical trials this is a cost effective way to keep your trials on track and most important - prevent disaster.
Zimmer and Peacock deliver companion diagnostics by leveraging upon our standard products but customising them to be specific to the analyte of interest and delivering the necessary supporting technologies, be it the reader, smart phone apps etc.