Ready for Prime Time? Ampel’s Blood Tests May Predict Drug Options for Inflammatory Skin Disease

Products expected to launch in 2022-2023 include LuGENE, a blood test for Lupus, and DermaGENE a skin biopsy test for lupus, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and scleroderma.

Ampel BioSolutions machine learning approach can characterize disease activity from gene expression data obtained from patient skin biopsy and may revolutionize the way doctors treat inflammatory skin diseases, according to research published in Science Advances.

The lab test is now ready for development for practical use. AMPEL's initial focus was Lupus, but the test can be used for many autoimmune or inflammatory skin diseases that affect more than 35 million Americans.

Products expected to launch in 2022-2023 include LuGENE, a blood test for Lupus, and DermaGENE a skin biopsy test for Lupus, Psoriasis, Atopic Dermatitis and Scleroderma.

Ampel 's approach can detect changes in clinically uninvolved skin so that early intervention may prevent systemic flares and skin damage apparent in lesions.  The approach could also assist pharmaceutical companies in drug development and clinical trials.

Paired with Ampel 's pipeline of tools to analyze clinical datasets, the machine learning program is a significant step towards implementing a routine skin test for monitoring disease activity and providing decision support for treatment based on a patient's gene expression. 

"There is currently no other application that can precisely predict disease activity and propose appropriate treatments, and we are very encouraged by this breakthrough reported in Science Advances,” says Dr. Peter Lipsky, Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder of Ampel BioSolutions in a news release.  “For those patients suffering with chronic skin diseases, meaningful innovation in treatments can't come soon enough.  Following the development of our machine learning concept, we can now move forward in working with our partners to develop this skin test that could transform the way doctors can help patients with chronic skin disease manage their condition by offering better and more precise treatments based on individual patient data rather than a general approach."

Adds Dr. Amrie Grammer, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder, AMPEL BioSolutions, "Our team has developed a tool that can conceivably transform the way patients with skin conditions are treated.  As a precision medicine company, AMPEL is changing the paradigm of treatment in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.  We are proud to be doing this work in Virginia and will continue to recruit talent and grow our business here." 

"AMPEL's highly innovative skin biopsy test will provide an excellent new tool for the diagnosis and management of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of the skin,” says Dr. Wright Caughman, Professor, Department of Dermatology, Emory School of Medicine, and Exec VP for Health Affairs (Emeritus), Emory University. “AMPEL is presenting this work at the Society for Investigative Dermatology meeting later this month.  Once AMPEL's clinical genomic test is CLIA certified, physicians will be able to quickly identify the best medications for each individual patient and obtain faster and safer control of their disease."