ProterixBio, New Name for BioScale, to Focus on Diagnostics for IPF and Other Pulmonary Ailments

ProterixBio, Inc., is the new name for the company previously known as BioScale, Inc., reflecting a change in strategy. Whereas BioScale had focused on care management solutions for pulmonary and other diseases, ProterixBio will specialize in high-value clinical applications, such as diagnostic products and disease management services, with a starting emphasis on pulmonary diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cystic fibrosis.

“ProterixBio seeks to transform chronic disease management by integrating novel bioclinical analytics with supporting digital health technologies,” Dr. Grace E. Colon, president and chief executive officer of ProterixBio, said in a press release. “New approaches are needed to improve both the effectiveness and the efficiency of caring for these patients. At ProterixBio, we are striving to improve health outcomes by combining our proprietary, comprehensive biological assessments with tools that proactively engage patients, clinicians and caregivers in the management of disease.”

The company has already begun its strategic redirection, assembling a Scientific Advisory Board of physician scientists and leaders in pulmonary and related disease industries, developing and validating a number of pulmonary and inflammatory biomarker assays, and establishing partnerships with research institutions to gain access to retrospective and prospective patient samples to support the development of a pipeline of diagnostic tests.

“Clinicians and investigators are continuously looking for new ways to better phenotype our patients with serious pulmonary diseases, including COPD and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,” said Dr. Fernando Martinez, executive vice chair of the Joan and Sandy Weill Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. “We look forward to collaborating with ProterixBio on clinical studies designed to test their biomarker hypothesis in order to better assess our COPD patients and manage their disease.  These approaches will enhance the evolving view highlighting the importance of personalized or precision medicine.”

ProterixBio will also focus on leveraging its ViBE platform, a new protein measurement technology to enable clinically sensitive and specific automated Acoustic Immunoassays, to further its bioassay pipeline. It is also interested in collaborating with biopharma companies, and using its pulmonary infrastructure to develop new treatments for lung disorders. Future plans include the application of in-house technologies to other disease areas, like oncology and neurodegenerative diseases.