Licensing Opportunities

A Novel Biomarker in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Background

  • Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE) is an emerging disease with an incidence of 1/10000 in a pediatric population in Hamilton County, Ohio in 2000-20031.
  • The disease is characterized by increased numbers of eosinophils in esophageal tissue and peripheral blood. Because eosinophil accumulation is associated with allergic responses, EE is thought to be linked to allergen exposure.
  • Disease symptoms include vomiting, weight loss, abdominal pain and failure to thrive.
  • Currently, distinguishing EE from other gastrointestinal conditions such as gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD) requires endoscopy. An easily measurable biomarker that distinguishes EE from other gastrointestinal conditions such as GERD would be very valuable to clinicians in diagnosis of the disease. 
  • In addition, EE biomarker identification could lead to potential targets for therapeutic intervention. This invention describes the identification of a novel biomarker specific for EE that is a potential therapeutic target as well as a diagnostic tool.
  • Furthermore, pre-clinical data is presented demonstrating the validity of the therapeutic target.

1) Noel RJ, Putnam PE, Rothenberg ME. N. Engl. J. Med. 351:940-941(2004).

Description of Current Technology

Dr. Marc Rothenberg and colleagues at Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation (CCRF) discovered that increased levels of biomarker mRNA occur in esophageal tissue in patients with EE, but not in GERD patients. Plasma biomarker protein levels measured by ELISA were also increased in EE patients but not in GERD patients. Therefore, increased biomarker levels specifically correlate with EE and these levels can be easily measured with a blood test, potentially reducing the need for endoscopy in EE diagnosis. In addition to its diagnostic value, this biomarker is a potential therapeutic target and also implicates signaling pathways that may be exploited in the development of novel EE therapeutics. A mouse with a genetic defect in this molecule was protected from experimental EE, validating the importance of the therapeutic target.

Objective

The Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation is seeking a corporate partner to develop and commercialize the diagnostic and therapeutic applications of this molecule in eosinophilic disorders. A patent application has been filed.

Contact

We welcome inquiries concerning this technology. To receive further confidential information, please contact:

Joseph D. Fondacaro, PhD
Director, Office of Intellectual Property and Venture Development
Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation
Mail Location 7032
3333 Burnet Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039
Phone: 513-636-7695
Fax: 513-636-8453
Email: jdfonda@cchmc.org

Related Study Information
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