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Dnage to Participate in European Study on Biomarkers of Ageing

16 Jul 2008 - Biotech company Pharming Group NV announced that its wholly owned subsidiary DNage is participating in a large European study, called MARK-AGE, to identify and establish biomarkers of human ageing. Under the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7), the European Union has allocated a total budget of almost EUR 12 million for this study for a period of five years.
 
The consortium is headed by the University of Konstanz (Germany) and brings together 26 research groups from 14 European countries including universities, research centres and companies such as Nestlé Research Center and Unilever. The study includes about 4000 volunteers from different European regions, both men and women between 35 and 74 years old, making it one of the largest studies on biomarkers of ageing of its kind. This large-scale integrating project aims at identifying biomarkers of ageing, i.e. changes in body function or composition which are related to ageing. The resulting biomarkers could predict the onset of age-related diseases and may be used as diagnostic markers or as therapeutic targets.
 
DNage will use its proprietary, accelerated ageing animal models to discover novel biomarkers of ageing, and will recruit patients that suffer from premature ageing (in particular Cockayne Syndrome) to validate the identified biomarkers. The company has programs in the field of premature ageing syndromes, osteoporosis, neurodegeneration and metabolic diseases.