Axial Biotech Launches Genetic Test for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoli...( New assay is the first of its kind to...)

New assay is the first of its kind to determine likelihood of spinal disease progression

SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Axial Biotech, Inc. announced today the commercial launch of a new DNA-based test that indicates the likelihood of progression to a severe curve for children diagnosed with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS). This new molecular diagnostic tool marks a major advancement in which medical treatments can be personalized to patients diagnosed with this deforming disease. The test will be marketed under the name of ScoliScore(TM) AIS Prognostic Test.

Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the spine that affects two to three percent of the population, or an estimated 7 million people in the United States. Most often scoliosis is identified during school or sport screenings. Girls are eight times more likely than boys to have a curve progress to a point that treatment is required.

Currently, to determine whether or not a curve will progress patients are observed over a period of several years with the uncertainty of not knowing what the long-term outcome is likely to be. If the curve does continue to progress, the most widely accepted treatments are spinal bracing or ultimately spinal fusion surgery.

"For decades, spine surgeons have been looking for ways to determine which patients may progress and which may not," stated Ken Ward, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer for Axial Biotech. "Currently, most patients diagnosed with scoliosis have spinal x-rays repeated over several years because of the lack of precise clinical indicators or markers that can identify the likelihood of severe curve progression. This lack of predictive information is very inefficient and can cause adolescents to be given years of unnecessary radiation exposure."

ScoliScore(TM) was developed by utilizing a genome wide association study that identified a panel of 53 ge
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