Healthcare Industry News: Alzheimer's
News Release - May 18, 2009
Power3 Medical Announces Better Than Expected Results for Early Stage Diagnosis Capability of the NuroPro(R) PD Test for Parkinson's Disease
Interim Results From Clinical Validation Trials Underway in Greece and the U.S.HOUSTON, TX--(Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network)--May 18, 2009 -- Power3 Medical Products, Inc. (OTC BB:PWRM.OB ), announced today that results for the early stage diagnosis from clinical validation trials of the NuroPro® PD test for Parkinson's disease are better than expected. The NuroPro PD test was developed to help clinicians distinguish patients with Parkinson's disease from "normal" individuals and patients with other neurological disorders. The NuroPro PD test, developed by Power3, utilizes a panel of blood serum protein biomarkers evaluated by biostatistical analysis to predict the probability that a patient has Parkinson's disease. The test is intended to solve a critical challenge facing physicians, clinicians, and patients for a quick, early stage and accurate diagnosis of the debilitating disease known as Parkinson's.
"In the US, there are an estimated 1.5 million individuals with Parkinson's disease. Presently, annual treatment per patient is $25 thousand for Parkinson's. Unfortunately, this disease is often misdiagnosed, and may take up to 10 years before the correct diagnosis is rendered. By the time patients are given a probable diagnosis, they have already suffered substantial and irreparable brain damage, rendering treatment less effective, even with existing drugs," said Power3's President and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Ira L. Goldknopf.
The latest results, from the completion of the first phase of clinical validation trials of the NuroPro® PD test, were found in blood serum samples from 52 Parkinson's disease patients and 28 age matched normal controls from the University of Thessaly, Greece, as well as 6 Parkinson's disease patients and 50 age matched normal controls from Banner Sun Health Research Institute, Sun City, Arizona.
They not only show a sensitivity of 93.3% for detection of mild, moderate and severe Parkinson's disease overall, as measured by two separate clinical scoring methods, but also that the sensitivity for early stage Parkinson's disease patients was 100%. The specificity of the test for correct diagnosis of normal individuals was 96.2%. "The fact that these results were obtained using fresh blood serum from patients, in the same way that the test will be performed in a clinical diagnostic setting, provides further support for the clinical usefulness of these findings," commented Dr. Goldknopf.
Power3 is conducting the independent validation of both their Alzheimer's (NuroPro AD) and Parkinson's (NuroPro PD) tests with key clinical centers. The second phase of these prospective trials are being conducted with Katerina Markopoulou, M.D., Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Thessaly, Greece, principal investigator for Parkinson's, and Marwan Sabbagh, M.D., Medical Director of the Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, AZ, principal investigator of the Alzheimer's study, and are slated for completion to launch of the Clia testing service in late 2009.
"The progress of the clinical validation achieved to date affirms our belief that NuroPro PD will help physicians make earlier diagnoses and recommend appropriate follow-up and treatment options for their patients," commented Helen R. Park, CEO of Power3.
About Power3 Medical Products, Inc.
Power3 Medical Products (OTC BB:PWRM.OB ) (www.power3medical.com) is a leader in bio-medical research and the commercialization of neurodegenerative disease and cancer biomarkers, pathways, and mechanisms of diseases through the development of diagnostic tests and drug targets. Power3's patent-pending technologies are being used to develop screening and diagnostic tests for the early detection and prognosis of disease, identify protein biomarkers, and drug targets, and its diagnostic tests are targeted toward markets with critical unmet needs in areas including neurodegenerative disease (NuroPro) and breast cancer (BC-SeraPro). Power3 expects to complete phase II clinical validation trials of its blood serum diagnostics for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease (NuroPro AD and PD), in the fourth quarter of 2009, followed by completion of filing with the FDA. Power3 operates a state-of-the-art CLIA certified laboratory in The Woodlands (Houston), and continues to evolve and enhance its IP portfolio, employing sensitive and specific combinations of biomarkers it has discovered from a broad range of diseases as the basis of highly selective blood-based tests for ALS, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's diseases, breast cancer, and drug resistance.
Cautionary Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those with respect to management's current views and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results, including the ability of the Company to grow its involvement in the diagnostic products and services markets. The known risks, uncertainties and other factors affecting these forward-looking statements are described from time to time in reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any change in such factors, risks and uncertainties may cause the actual results, events and performance to differ materially from those referred to in such statements. Accordingly, the company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to all statements contained in this press release.
Source: Power3 Medical Products
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