The success of treating common and life-threatening diseases, from cancer and diabetes, to osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis, depends on an early diagnosis, and today’s advanced medical research technology plays a vital role in this. I am promoting today’s launch of  Abcodia, an innovative company engaged in the validation and discovery of molecular biomarkers which supports the whole diagnostic discovery process.

Abcodia has been granted rights to commericalise IP from one of the largest biobanks in the UK. The biobank has been created by lead scientists at University College London, one of the world’s leading research-led universities. It is a very exciting, cutting edge field to be working in and Abcodia hopes they will make groundbreaking discoveries of new molecular biomarkers for many of our common diseases.

The company is seeking collaborative partners to achieve the best outcomes and is keen to harness a network of molecular technology collaborators and commercial diagnostic partners, as well as collaborations with academia and not-for-profit organisations.

Abcodia is spearheaded by Chief Executive Julie Barnes (pic) who has over 20 years experience of the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industry, including 15 years experience of early R&D with GlaxoSmithKline, as well as former director and Chief Scientific Officer of Cambridgeshire-based BioWisdom, a healthcare technology company.  Her mix of scientific and commercial experience in large pharmaceutical and small start-ups and academic network brings a strong understanding of what is required to successfully lead Abcodia as an ethical and collaborative organisation.  Chris Hodkinson is Abcodia’s Chief Operating Officer. Chris has over 25 years of operational experience with blue chip organisations such as GlaxoSmithKline and The National Lottery. He was the Chief Operating Officer at BioWisdom Ltd where he led the technical and scientific development of BioWisdom’s products and solutions for healthcare intelligence.

Prof Ian Jacobs, Dean of Biomedical Sciences at UCL and  principle investigator of the UKCTOCS trial from where the serum biobank is derived, said Abcodia provides exciting opportunities for health benefits.

“The establishment of Abcodia prvides exciting opportunities to derive health benefit for large numbers of people at risk from the many potentially life threatening conditions that affect us with increasing age. The established serum biobank is uniquely placed for screening diagnostics and I look forward to working with Abcodia.”

Working collaboratively in this specialised field, while embracing advanced medical research technology, is vital for improved disease diagnosis and screening. It’s not only exciting for Abcodia, but absolutely crucial too as potentially their discoveries could help save countless lives too.