Symposium To Highlight Practical Use Of New Biomarker Test For Acute Kidney Injury

-- Astute Medical Sponsors Symposium at Annual European Critical Care Meeting

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A panel of international critical care experts will discuss the use of a new biomarker panel for early risk assessment of acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill hospitalized patients at a symposium in Paris next month. The new test rapidly measures two biomarkers, insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 (IGFBP-7) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2), which could improve management of AKI.

Astute Medical Inc. has commercialized the biomarker panel in the European Union as the NephroCheck® Test. It is an aid in the risk assessment of AKI for the critically ill. The NephroCheck® Test is currently not available for sale in the United States.

The symposium, AKI Injury biomarkers: How early recognition can improve AKI management, will take place on Tuesday, October 8, from 12:30 to 14:00 local time during the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) Congress. Interested participants can register to attend at http://www.akiassessment.com and follow via Twitter @ACuteKidneyMan.

"AKI patients are vulnerable to life-threatening complications, costly to manage and may be subject to hospital readmission," said Dr. Michael Joannidis of the Medical University Innsbruck, symposium program moderator. "It is paramount to keep abreast of new techniques that can help us predict kidney injury, preserve kidney function and manage patients susceptible to this most challenging condition."

Investigators in a published global, multi-center study of IGFBP-7 and TIMP-2 proved the superiority of this panel over existing biomarkers and concluded that the panel provided additional information over clinical variables and added mechanistic insight into AKI. Additionally, the study reported that the NephroCheck® Test value correlated with major adverse kidney events in the following 30 days.[1]

Symposium presenters will discuss the pathogenesis of AKI, cell cycle arrest biomarkers, the implications of these biomarkers in the management of patients at risk of developing AKI, and the practical use of the NephroCheck® Test in a hospital setting. In addition to Dr. Joannidis, presenters include Dr. Ivan Göcze of the University Hospital of Regensburg, Germany, Dr. Eric Hoste of Ghent University, Dr. John Kellum of the University of Pittsburgh, and Dr. Andrew Shaw of Duke University Medical Center.

Astute Medical is a Gold sponsor at ESICM, the most prestigious critical care medicine conference in Europe. Throughout the ESICM meeting, Astute Medical representatives will be available at Booth 2.25 in the main exhibit hall to answer any questions participants may have about the NephroCheck® Test. 

About Astute Medical, Inc.
Astute Medical is dedicated to improving the diagnosis of high-risk medical conditions and diseases through the identification and validation of protein biomarkers that can serve as the basis for novel diagnostic tests. The Company's focus is community- and hospital-acquired acute conditions that require rapid diagnosis and risk assessment. Astute Medical's current areas of interest include abdominal pain, acute coronary syndromes, cerebrovascular injury, kidney injury and sepsis. For additional information, please visit www.astutemedical.com. 

The NephroCheck® Test and the Astute140™ Meter are not available for sale in the United States. For information regarding trademarks and other intellectual property applicable to these products, including international trademarks, please see AstuteMedical.com/about/intellectual-property. PN 0215 Rev A 2013/10/02.

[1] Kashani, K, et al.: Discovery and validation of cell cycle arrest biomarkers in human acute kidney injury. Critical Care 2013,17:R25.