Patented use of EN2 protein as a diagnostic biomarker licensed to ZEUS Scientific

The University of Surrey in the UK and ZEUS Scientific, a US based global in vitro diagnostics company, announced today that they have entered into an agreement that grants ZEUS Scientific a worldwide non-exclusive license covering the development and commercialization of products utilizing ELISA and ZEUS’ multiplex technology platforms using the Engrailed-2 (EN2) protein as a patented biomarker for prostate and bladder cancer and provides a diagnostic benefit that complements conventional diagnostics in these cancer patients.  EN2 is a novel biomarker that is diagnostic of prostate or bladder cancer as it is only expressed and secreted by cancerous cells.  The University of Surrey will supply proprietary reagents to ZEUS Scientific to manufacture and market products for in vitro diagnostic testing for these cancer applications.  Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.  This transaction was managed by McDonald & Associates, a global transaction and strategic consultancy, as advisor to the University of Surrey Technology Transfer Office.
“ZEUS Scientific is excited to execute this agreement with the University of Surrey”, noted Scott Tourville, CEO of ZEUS Scientific. “This represents ZEUS Scientific’s continued expansion into the diagnostics of cancer and other diseases using novel biomarkers that have strong scientific data supporting their clinical utility”.  ZEUS plan to CE mark this test and submit to the USFDA in 2014.  
“The University of Surrey is looking forward very much to working with Zeus to introduce EN2 as a novel diagnostic test for prostate and bladder cancers”, commented Professor Hardev Pandha MD, PhD, Professor of Medical Oncology, University of Surrey, and Consultant Medical Oncologist, Royal Surrey County Hospital. “In prostate cancer our studies have shown that the EN2 test does not need prostatic massage and that levels of EN2 correlate strongly with disease volume. Knowledge of disease volume may help the urologist assess whether the patient has a small volume of disease that may be safely and actively monitored or a larger volume that needs to be treated.”  

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