Indivumed: Perfect timing

To identify and validate cancer targets, markers and compounds, companies need patient samples and data. This seems a trivial precondition except for the fact that there is no standard for sampling tissue and data. Based on research by its founders, Indivumed GmbH has developed standards and aims to provide high quality samples and data to minimize artifacts due to bad sampling. The company also is developing cancer diagnostics based on its findings.

The quality of tissue samples and their associated data affects how gene expression results are interpreted, which makes the lack of standardized sample gathering and processing problematic. "Many companies and hospitals are providing samples and data to companies," Harald Juhl, president and CEO of Indivumed, told BioCentury. "However, very often data and samples are incomplete."...