Athera Biotechnologies AB

The Challenge

There is a great need for better tools for risk evaluation of cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients in order to select the most appropriate treatment. Current markers in clinical practice are insufficient for guiding therapy.

Athera's Solution

Athera has developed a test for measurement of IgM antibodies against phosphorylcholine (anti-PC) in blood – CVDefine® kit.  Low levels of anti-PC indicate a risk for future development of cardiovascular disease. Anti-PC is also suggested as a marker to identify acute coronary syndrome patients at high risk of secondary events. The company also has two biopharmaceutical product candidates in this area, PC-mAb and Annexin A5. CVDefine has a potential to become a companion diagnostic, i.e. used to identify the patients who would benefit mostly from treatment with the therapeutic antibody PC-mAb.

Competitive Advantages

CVDefine adds important independent information to currently available risk assessment tools.

The Market

CVD is the leading cause of mortality in the western world and more than half a billion people suffer from different forms of the disease, globally.

Status

The CVDefine kit is on the market in Europe (CE-certified) and the USA (Research Use Only).

Planned Milestones

Carry out additional international clinical studies in collaboration with key opinion groups.