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Upstream
Biosciences develops drugs and diagnostic markers for cancer
and infectious disease. Upstream optimizes disease treatment using chemical
diversity analysis and genetic variation. Upstream has a proprietary
approach to generate novel drug candidates and a data mining pipeline
to determine genetic variations important to disease progression and
drug response.
Upstream's current research is focused on two areas: the
development of novel compounds for certain infectious diseases and the
development of biomarkers for diagnosis and drug response. Upstream
is currently engaged in the following research:
Preclinical Malaria Program
Upstream is collaborating with Alberta's Provincial Laboratory for Public
Health for in vitro testing of Upstream's novel compounds against Malaria.
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites that
are spread from person to person through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
According to the World Heath Organization (WHO), about 40% of the world's
population is at risk for Malaria.
Preclinical Trypanosomiasis (African Sleeping Sickness)
Program
Upstream is collaborating with Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda,
to begin toxicity testing of our novel compounds for the treatment of
trypanosomiasis, or African Sleeping Sickness. Upstream's drug candidates
for trypanosomiasis have demonstrated encouraging potential in vitro
and may have application in both human and animal forms of the disease.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 60 million
people in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of contracting this devastating
condition spread by the tsetse fly. A 2002 United Nations report estimated
that trypanosomiasis costs the economies of sub-Saharan Africa about
$4.5 billion annually from lost farm income and increased malnutrition.
Cancer Biomarkers and Drug Response Assay
Upstream is collaborating with Genpathway and NimbleGen to identify
and validate biomarkers important to disease progression and drug response.
The companies bring together novel technology for identifying transcription
factor binding sites. Genetic variations at these binding sites could
be important for determining the course of disease treatment. Upstream
intends to use these genetic variations as diagnostic markers for disease
susceptibility and drug response. Upstream has filed a number of provisional
patents for cancer biomarkers as well as an assay for determining biomarkers
for drug response.
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RECENT
NEWS
June 25, 2008
UPSTREAM APPOINTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHEMOINFORMATICS EXPERT TO SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Company’s development of drugs to treat tropical diseases
will benefit from expertise of Dr. Alexander Tropsha...
» MORE
June 10, 2008
UPSTREAM BIOSCIENCES EXPECTS INCREASED INTEREST FROM BIG PHARMA
AS FDA’S PROPOSED PRIORITY REVIEW VOUCHER PROGRAM IS IMPLEMENTED
Small Companies With Promising Drugs Could Benefit from Program
to Encourage Development of Drugs to Fight Tropical Diseases...
» MORE
April 28, 2008
UPSTREAM BIOSCIENCES REPORTS ITS NOVEL ANTI-MALARIAL AGENTS DEMONSTRATE PROMISING SAFETY IN ANIMAL TESTING
Upstream Showcases its Advanced Computational Approach to Drug Discovery for Tropical Parasitic Diseases at the Inaugural Meeting of the Pan-African Bioinformatics Network...
» MORE
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