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Microsoft, Adaptive Biotechnologies partner to develop diagnostic tool
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Adaptive Biotechnologies and Microsoft have announced a partnership to develop a T-cell receptor-antigen map to assist in prompt detection and diagnosis of multiple diseases, including infectious diseases and cancers.
This technology, according to a press release issued by Adaptive, examines blood samples and connects T-cell receptors (TCRs) to antigens associated with disease.
“The diagnoses for diseases now are almost entirely done on a one-off, disease-specific basis. Usually, the entire testing product, including the assay, is only able to assess the disease it is designed for,” Harlan Robins, PhD, head of innovation and co-founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies, told Infectious Diseases in Children. “The human immune system does not have that limitation. We are trying to learn how to read what the immune system is doing, which can tell us diagnostics across the board for a broad view of every disease it is fighting specifically.”
Research on the use of this TCR-antigen mapping technology is still needed; however, the delivery mechanism has been generated, and the assay is ready to go through FDA approval, according to Robins.
“Our products for acquiring this information from a patient are real right now,” he said. “As we progress, we can implement [this diagnostic technology] for every disease we can assess in a clinic in real time. I think that’s something we are most excited about.”
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According to Robins, the most noteworthy progress has been through the detection of infectious diseases. The TCR-antigen map has been used for the detection of cytomegalovirus and demonstrated clinical accuracy. Additional work has been completed on diagnosing tuberculosis.
Despite these advancements, there are some limitations to the use of this type of testing. Very young children may not be able to supply the amount of blood needed for screening. Furthermore, certain treatment settings, including EDs, may not be able to take immediate advantage of testing because of the speed of the machines used for sequencing. However, this concern will be addressed in the long term, and the use of this technology in clinics, doctors’ offices and large medical centers is viable, according to Robins.
TCR-antigen mapping may also be more practical for the tracking and diagnosis of chronic conditions due to both speed and progression of disease. According to Robins, this technology could greatly impact the diagnosis of difficult-to-detect diseases like Lyme disease, a field in which “there is a huge medical need for accurate diagnoses.”
“My big hope is that this will be used as part of a regular screen,” Robins said. “It gives you a snapshot of what your immune system is responding to and could supplant a large number of tests presently available. Additionally, there is true power in being able to look at an immune system and look at it again 6 months later. It is really easy to see what changes happened and what patients responded to within that time. With this technology, our ability to improve global health should be drastically improved.” – by Katherine Bortz
Disclosure: Infectious Diseases in Children was unable to determine relevant financial disclosures prior to publication.