Success Stories

Protein Discovery, Inc. Awarded SBIR Grant for Serum Fractionation System

Protein Discovery, Inc., a privately held life sciences company, announced the award of a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) to continue development of a fractionation system that prepares human serum for analysis by high throughput mass spectrometry. Protein Discovery will use the grant to further develop, test, and characterize the novel fractionation system.

Protein Discovery is developing a serum fractionation system that will overcome current limitations affecting the application of mass spectrometry to the analysis of complex biological samples. Current methods of sample preparation require significant investments of time and expert labor and are incompatible with high-throughput automation solutions. Additionally, Protein Discovery seeks to enable reproducible, high-sensitivity analyses with the new serum fractionation system, especially in the range of low-abundance, low molecular weight proteins and peptides.

Chuck Witkowski, president and chief executive officer of Protein Discovery, said, "The low molecular weight, low abundance proteins in human serum represent a potentially extensive and largely untapped resource of information about diseases and the effects of treatment. This award validates our unique technical approach and will accelerate our program to increase the number of low abundance proteins that can be reproducibly detected and quantified from serum. Our system is compatible with all major MALDI mass spectrometers and can be automated, so we are excited about the tremendous value this system will provide to organizations involved in proteomics research and biomarker discovery," added Mr. Witkowski.

Upon successful completion of Phase I, Protein Discovery will be eligible for Phase II of the research program, which will focus on the final implementation and validation of the system.