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Axial Biotech has high hopes for severe scoliosis test(Salt Lake Tribune, The (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sep. 12--A genetic test to determine the risk of developing severe scoliosis is the first product brought to market by Axial Biotech Inc., a Salt Lake City company founded by a group of spine surgeons and geneticists. The test rolled out this week but will not be available nationwide for at least six months as the company refines the materials that accompany the kits. But once U.S. doctors have access to it, the test should provide a steady stream of revenue for the company founded in 2002 that runs on venture capital. John Climaco, president, chief executive officer and a company founder, said there are 130,000 cases of adolescent cases of scoliosis diagnosed each year in the United States. Although the price of the test has not been set, it probably will cost $2,000 to $3,000, in the range of other genetic diagnostic tests. That means at the low end the company has potential revenue of $2.6 million a year. Other genetic diagnostic tests are the works, said Climaco. With back pain the No. 1 reason Americans visit the doctor, Axial Biotech is developing a test for early onset of severe degenerative disk disease that will help doctors make treatment decisions. He said the company was founded in Utah because of the unique resources for genetic research here. Those include a population that knows who their relatives are and a history of large families where genetic characteristics can more easily be traced. What that means, he said, is that researchers are able to use the company's proprietary genealogical database of 23 million birth, death and marriage records of the descendants of the original Mormon pioneers to help pinpoint areas in the genome that cause diseases. Climaco pointed to the case of 17 people who suffered from scoliosis who said they were unrelated to each other. But when the company took their family histories into its genealogical database it found otherwise. "We traced them all back to a single ancestor who lived in England at the beginning of the 16th century," Climaco said. Each of them had their genes mapped to discover the genetic material they shared, greatly reducing the time and effort needed to pinpoint the genes responsible for scoliosis, he said. [email protected] --Founded: 2002 by spine surgeons and geneticists --Funding: $28 million in venture financing from vSpring Capital, Johnson and Johnson Development Corp., Medtronic, the Ohio Biotech Group, ATEL Capital Group and Oxford Finance --Top officers: Kenneth Ward, chairman of the board and chief scientific officer; John M. Climaco, president and chief executive officer --Employees: 37 --Location: Salt Lake City To see more of The Salt Lake Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sltrib.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Salt Lake Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |