MBI's central focus is the completion of validation and commercialization of LungExpress Dx™.  MBI currently has two additional development projects relating to lymphoma and cardiovascuar disease.

Lymphoma

MBI is developing LymphExpress Dx™, a gene expression-based microarray diagnostic test for the most common subtypes of lymphoma.  Initial studies involving 90% of all Non-Hodgkin B-cell and Hodgkin lymphomas demonstrated an overall accuracy rate of over 90%. MBI is currently developing a second generation prototype to diagnose additional subtypes of lymphoma, in total representing approximately 98% of all Non-Hodgkin B-cell and Hodgkin lymphomas.

MBI has been collaborating with Duke University since February 2007, and was recently involved in the creation of the Translational Working Group in Hematologic Malignancies (Duke University, Northwestern University, Indiana University and the University of Hong Kong) to undertake further research.

Lymphoma is the fifth most common cancer in the United States and is a general term for a group of cancers that originate in the lymphatic system and is comprised of more than 42 disease subtypes. Lymphoma is divided into two major categories: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, representing 88% of all lymphomas, and Hodgkin lymphoma, representing approximately 12% of all lymphomas. 85% of Non-Hodgkin lymphomas arise from B-cell malignancies and represent the most lethal lymphoma subtypes. 

In the United States, lymphoma afflicts approximately 74,000, and kills approximately 20,500, people each year. Currently, approximately 40% of persons diagnosed with B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma will die within five years.  Diagnosis and treatment of patients with lymphoma costs approximately $4.6 billion per year in the United States alone, with an average per patient expenditure of $21,500 in the first year after diagnosis.

Accurate diagnosis of lymphoma is essential for determining prognosis and the best treatment options, but this presents a clinical challenge as pathologists may disagree regarding diagnosis of certain subtypes in as many as 47% of the cases. The experience and skill of the pathologist is of particular importance for accurate diagnoses. Conventional diagnosis can be time consuming and requires the interpretation of results from a battery of complex tests to render a diagnosis of the particular lymphoma subtype.

Molecular diagnostic tools, such as LymphExpress Dx™, are expected to simplify and expedite the process while providing more accurate diagnoses.

Cardiovascular Disease

MBI is collaborating with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Canada's largest and foremost cardiovascular research centre, gene expression-based blood tests for cardiovascular disease. MBI is developing tests to more effectively guide treatment and improve the selection of patients for expensive and invasive diagnostics, including screening tests to determine those patients with a significant increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and diagnostic tests to determine those patients who are currently afflicted with cardiovascular disease.