Perspectum Diagnostics Announces Collaboration to Advance Development of Therapies for Patients with Serious Liver Disease

Perspectum Diagnostics and the SC Liver Research Consortium (SCLRC) are delighted to announce a collaboration to advance clinical development of investigational therapies. This will focus on patients with serious liver diseases including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

SCLRC is a site management organization consisting of over 85 clinical sites based in the United States with specialized expertise in hepatology. SCLRC has successfully executed phase 1-3 trials in hepatitis C, hepatitis B, NASH, cirrhosis and HCC. SCLRC offers sponsors guidance in clinical development, as well as the recruitment and execution of clinical trials for regulatory approvals.

Perspectum are imaging experts in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and provide specialized imaging clinical research services in NASH, cholestatic liver disease and HCC. Their products, LiverMultiScanTM (which includes MRI-PDFF) and MRCP+, for quantitative imaging of the liver and biliary tree, and their comprehensive imaging CRO services have been included in over 18 phase 1-3 studies since their launch in 2014.

With these complementary offerings, SCLRC and Perspectum will build a major US-based network setting a new standard for sponsors, both Pharmaceutical and Biotech companies. This network will be focused on clinical development of drugs and diagnostics for patients with liver disease. SCLRC currently has 45 clinical sites with access to Perspectum’s imaging-technology, with plans to enable the majority of clinical sites by June 2019.

“We believe that this unique partnership will bring together novel technologies with deep clinical development experience to address high unmet medical needs for patients with liver disease,” according to Dr Cathy O’Hare, Head of US operations for Perspectum, based in South San Francisco. Professor Sir Michael Brady, Chairman of the Perspectum Board went further: “Perspectum Diagnostics, with technology that builds on decades of academic research at the University of Oxford, is changing the paradigm for clinical development in liver disease. We have the opportunity to develop drugs for diseases that to date have had no approved therapies, because we have the unique ability to demonstrate the benefits of investigational agents on imaging biomarkers.”

Dr. Paul Pockros, Head of SCLRC and the Director of the Liver Disease Center at Scripps Clinic comments: "The collaboration between SC Liver Research Consortium and Perspectum will provide investigators and sites with an important technology to allow breakthroughs in NASH research. We believe this relationship will be beneficial for patients and physicians alike."

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