Prostate Management Diagnostics, Inc. Announces Series A Financing
Sausalito, CA and St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) November 06, 2014 -- Prostate Management Diagnostics, Inc. (“PMDI”) is pleased to announce the first close of a Series A financing in the amount of $1.06 m. PMDI was founded by the non-profit Peter Michael Foundation (“PMF”) to commercialize breakthrough discovery research being conducted by The Genome Institute (“TGI”) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (“WUSM”). Led by Dr. Elaine Mardis, the Robert E. and Louise F. Dunn Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of The Genome Institute, and Dr. Christopher Maher, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Assistant Director at The Genome Institute, PMDI strives to create new tests to identify and stratify patients at risk for and diagnosed with prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of malignancy diagnosed in men, with the vast majority receiving aggressive, but often unnecessary, treatment that frequently leads to debilitating side effects.
The funds will initially be used to develop a test to differentiate between indolent and aggressive disease in patients newly diagnosed with early stage disease. Of the nearly 200,000 men diagnosed in the US each year, approximately 90% receive some form of invasive treatment when almost 80% do not require such an intervention. A second assay will be developed to monitor patients diagnosed with indolent disease to determine if they are at risk of conversion to a more aggressive form. A final goal will be to develop a simple fluid-based screening tool to identify at-risk men who have no prior symptoms or diagnoses of prostate cancer.
PMDI is the result of an innovative partnership between PMF and Washington University in St. Louis designed to advance promising academic research by imposing a commercial lens on the project. The goal is to advance similar such projects in the future.
“We are delighted to close the financing and now launch PMDI, our first breakthrough project utilizing this novel model. Washington University is the ideal partner for this exciting initiative,” said Walter Menzel, Executive Director of the Peter Michael Foundation.
“We look forward to pursuing this innovative model to improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and thank the Peter Michael Foundation for its leadership,” Dr. Elaine Mardis said.
About the Peter Michael Foundation
The Peter Michael Foundation is a prominent non-profit that focuses exclusively on prostate cancer with a long history of underwriting innovative, promising diagnostic and treatment research at leading US cancer centers. For more information, please visit http://www.petermichaelfoundation.org.
About The Genome Institute
The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is a world leader in genomics. As one of only three National Institutes of Health-funded large-scale sequencing centers in the United States, TGI is helping to lead the way in high-speed, comprehensive cancer genomics. TGI began as a key player in the Human Genome Project and is now using this foundational information to advance human health. For more information, visit http://genome.wustl.edu.
Binay Curtis, G6 for Peter Michael Foundation, http://www.petermichaelfoundation.org, +1 (415) 596-6678, [email protected]
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