Mapping the plasma proteome to identify drug targets; plus GSK-Vir, Codiak and more

A trio of papers published in Nature journals demonstrates how mapping the plasma proteome could help identify drug targets and biomarkers of disease. At present, large-scale proteomic profiling is performed using either aptamer-based or antibody-based approaches, the results of which can be integrated with genotype and phenotype information to identify associations with diseases and other traits. The first of the new papers used the aptamer approach, the second used the antibody approach and the third tested the concordance between the two. 

In a Nature Genetics paper, the deCode genetics unit of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) an aptamer-based assay from SomaLogic Inc. to measure levels of 4,907 plasma proteins in 35,559 Icelanders from whom genotype and phenotype data were available. deCode analyzed associations between plasma protein levels and 27.2 million sequence variants and 373 diseases and traits to identify 938 genes encoding potential drug targets...