Metabolon taps Metdia for European marketing of prediabetes tests

The collaboration includes Metabolon's Quantose IR and Quantose IGT tests

Kelsey Kaustinen
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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.—Metabolomics company Metabolon Inc. recently inked a partnership with Spanish biomedical company Metdia Biotech S.L. for the commercialization of Metabolon's Quantose IR and Quantose IGT prediabetes tests in Europe. Under the collaboration, Metdia will market the tests to hospital and clinical laboratories in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria. Financial details for the partnership were not disclosed.
 
“Licensing our Quantose IR and Quantose IGT technology to Metdia in Europe is an important next step in expanding the availability of these obesity-related diagnostic tests outside the U.S.,” Dr. John Ryals, president and CEO of Metabolon, commented in a statement. “We are confident in Metdia’s broad knowledge of the molecular diagnostics market in Europe. Earlier this year, Quantose IR became commercially available in Mexico through Patia Biopharma, a leading Latin American diabetes public health company. We are delighted to see our technology available to contribute to the health of millions of people in these two major markets.”
 
Prediabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), is characterized by “blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.” It is sometimes referred to as impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose.
 
Metabolon's Quantose IR is a laboratory-developed test that reflects insulin resistance based on insulin and three non-glycemic biomarkers. It can determine an individual's risk of progression to prediabetes earlier than traditional glycemic measures such as hemoglobin A1c. According to the ADA, the A1C test measures a patient's average blood glucose over the past two to three months, with prediabetes diagnosed in the range of 5.7 to 6.4 percent and diabetes at 6.5 percent or higher.
 
Quantose IGT, for its part, reflects the degree of impaired glucose tolerance in a patient, which is a core metabolic defect in dysglycemia and a known risk factor for prediabetes. Quantose IGT can be used as an alternative to an oral glucose tolerance test or to determine patients who may be candidates for such a test.
 
Eric Button, senior vice president of diagnostics at Metabolon, says this is the first time the two companies have worked together. It is a sensible partnership, though, as Metdia is focused on providing disruptive technologies and devices for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment monitoring of prediabetes and diabetes.
 
“Diabetes is a significant global health concern, and the costs to society are high and growing rapidly,” Oscar Rodríguez, director of Metdia Biotech, said in a news release. “According to the International Diabetes Federation, more than 55 million adults in the European Region are coping with diabetes every day. Another 66 million have impaired glucose tolerance, a known risk factor for prediabetes. Tests using Metabolon’s Quantose technology provide cost-effective assessment tools that help physicians identify patients with prediabetes and monitor the impact of therapeutic interventions. If prediabetes is caught early, physicians can prescribe treatment that might prevent progression to type 2 diabetes.”
 
Diabetes numbers in the United States aren't any better. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that approximately 86 million adults in the United States ages 20 and up had prediabetes in 2012, while the ADA reports that 29.1 million Americans (9.3 percent of the population) had diabetes.
 
Button adds that “90 percent of people with prediabetes do not know they have it,” which is a serious concern, seeing as how the condition increases someone's risk of not just type 2 diabetes, but also heart disease and stroke. Fortunately, if the condition is caught early, steps can be taken to avoid the development of diabetes; the ADA reports that an individual with prediabetes can lower their diabetes risk by 58 percent by losing 7 percent of their body weight and exercising moderately for 30 minutes a day, five days a week. The fact that early intervention can increase a person's chances of avoiding a decline into diabetes provides significant support for tests like Metabolon's.
 
“To stem the tide of the prediabetes/diabetes epidemic, we must get ahead of the development of these conditions and focus on prevention,” Button tells DDNews. “That's where Quantose IR comes in. The test is a tool that provides information to physicians, so they can identify at-risk patients and take steps to prevent the development of prediabetes and diabetes.”

Kelsey Kaustinen

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