In-vitro Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases and Immunity

Diagnostics are a critical challenge of the health care. It is especially true for the infectious diseases because of the antibiotic-resistance crisis. All over Europe, companies and labs engage in the development of novel biomarkers and immunoassays.

To get a better insight of the activities of such company, Scientist asked a few questions to Maan Zrein. He is the co-founder, CEO and Scientific Director of the InfYnity Biomarkers company based in France.

What are your daily motivation and your background?

I am deeply driven by curiosity and establishing an international network.

I have directed for over 25 years various R&D programs in the IVD industry. My work within Adaltis (Italy), Diagast Laboratories (France) and Innogenetics (Belgium) led to the marketing of innovative products in the fields of infectious diseases and immune disorders, some products are still leading the market after 18 years and recommended by the World Health Organization. As CEO/CSO I am now managing InfYnity Biomarker R&D department.

About InfYnity Biomarkers, what is its history, its mission?

InfYnity Biomarkers was founded in 2009 in Lyon (France). We are an R&D in-vitro diagnostics company fully dedicated to infectious diseases and immunity. We carry out two types of activities:

• Own R&D projects (e.g. Chagas multiplex immunoassay) for which we collaborate with several worldwide academic & clinical teams specialized in the subject; financing comes from grants and company’s own resources (one funding round at creation);
• Customized services addressing specific customer needs.

Our core expertise:

• Innovative and proprietary approach for epitope mapping
• Design and identification of novel biomarkers of clinical interest
• Integration of biomarkers into innovative immunoassays
• Mastering of a microplate-based multiplex immunoassay technology

What services does your company offer?

InfYnity offers tailored immunobiology services ranging from biomaterial design to biomarker discovery and immunoassay development.

Examples of successful services:

• Selection of the best possible antigens combination for the screening of infectious agents
• Evaluating biomarker presence in sera of autoimmune disease patients
• Immunoprofiling for patient stratification
• Identification of immune signatures for measuring drug efficacy and disease prognosis

We address the markets of in-vitro diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, environment and the food industry.

For more details about our customized service using the multiplex immunoassay technology please watch this video:

### What sets your expertise apart from others?

Our originality and strength rely on a unique combination of proven skills:
Multiplex technology AND biomaterial design AND immunoassay development AND analytical approach – enhanced by our interaction mode (availability, listening, reactivity).

We have proven the power of this combination by developing a novel Chagas Multiplex assay (Granjon et al., PLOS Negl. Trop. Dis. 2016) and identifying an innovative Chagas biomarker to monitor treatment success (Zrein et al., PLOS Negl. Trop. Dis. 2018).

What challenges are you willing to address in the near future?

InfYnity has the ambition to set new criteria for immunoassays: study the diversity of immune response to provide high-value information instead of the binary response. In the years to come, we will pursue our programs on Chagas, HTLV, HCV, and HIV and launch new projects (under assessment).

Potential partners’ ideas that could fit with the powerful multiplex technology are welcome!

What do you expect from Scientist?

We expect to establish new partnerships with innovative companies that face questions like:

• Developing multi-parametric immunoassays
• Selecting reactive antigens among a huge number of different possibilities
• Screening for relevant Biomarkers of a given disease
• Monitoring therapy or vaccine efficacy

If you are interested in knowing more about InfYnity Biomarkers’ offer, visit its profile.