Verici Dx has signed an agreement with the American Society of Transplantation to establish a Career Development Research Grant in honour of its co-founder, Dr. Barbara T. Murphy.
The $50,000 grant will be awarded annually to a researcher in the fields of transplant science and immunology, the advanced clinical diagnostics developer told shareholders this morning.
A career development research grant will enable the researcher to expand on preliminary research findings that have the potential to further the knowledge base in these areas.
Dr. Barbara T. Murphy, who passed away on 30 June 2021, was a nephrologist and specialist in kidney transplant immunology, with her research focusing on predicting and diagnosing the outcomes of kidney transplants. She was the Co-Founder and former board member of Verici.
The American Society of Transplantation (AST) will be collecting the applications, with members of the AST Research Network Scientific Review Committee (SRC) choosing the recipient based on a scoring system reviewing the quality of the research, Verici explained.
Founded in 1982, the AST is a US-based organisation made up of over 4,000 transplant professionals dedicated to advancing the field of transplantation and improving patient care.
Verici explained to investors that the grant recipient will be recognised during the 2022 American Transplant Congress which will be held from 4-7 June 2022, in Boston.
Commenting on the launch of the grant this morning, Sara Barrington, Chief Executive Officer of Verici Dx said: "I am honoured to launch this research grant with the AST in memory of Barbara. She was an innovator, an entrepreneur and a mentor, and it is only fitting that this grant will enable promising, innovative researchers to further the research base within the transplant and immunology fields, within which Barbara was a leading voice. She was a valued colleague and a good friend, and she is missed greatly by all of us at Verici Dx."
John Gill, who is President of the American Society of Transplantation, also commented: "The AST is honored to partner with Verici on this award in tribute to Dr. Barbara T. Murphy.”
He added, “Dr. Murphy was a passionate supporter and inspiration to so many new investigators in the field of transplantation and it is particularly fitting that this generous award will be used to support the career development of a promising new investigator. As a past AST President, Dr. Murphy also understood the importance of our industry partners such as Verici in advancing innovation and I wish to thank Verici for their tremendous support."
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In August 2021, Verici said patient enrollment for a multi-centre observational clinical validation study for its lead products had concluded ahead of management expectations.
Having completed its enrollment early, the developer of advanced clinical diagnostics for organ transplants said it remains on track to complete the validation study for these products by the end of 2021, in line with expectations set out in the Company's admission document.
Verici Dx has partnered with eleven leading US and EU centres to date to run a global, non-randomised study for the clinical validation of its lead products, Clarava and Tuteva.
The Group’s Clarava™ assay is a pre-transplant prognosis test for the risk of early acute rejection, while Tuteva™ is a post-transplant diagnostic focused upon acute cellular rejection.
The study uses next generation sequencing in the Verici Dx lab to create transcriptomic profiles to validate performance characteristics of the lead Verici Dx signature tests.
Over the longer term, the study will also provide validation for a fibrosis test called Protega™. The patient enrolment process for Protega which is ongoing is expected to complete by 3Q22.
The end points of the study for this product are expected to be reached up to two years after the completion of enrolment, with data expected shortly thereafter around year-end 2024.
To date, enrolment is on target for completion of the Clarava and Tuteva validation study by the end of 2021 with data expected to be published ‘as soon as practicably possible’ in 2022.
Its efforts to accelerate the use of its organ transplant products comes at a time when the landscape of solid organ transplantation has dramatically changed as a result of COVID-19.
While developing, trialling and obtaining the necessary regulatory authorisations before launching medical technologies can be a lengthy process, Verici said it is focused on compressing these timescales with the aim to commercialise its kidney tests in 2022.
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