James Golubieski, president of Foundation Venture Capital Group, says it invested in GeneAssess because a gene it has identified appears to be found in breast cancer, but also shows potential for other cancers.
Foundation Venture Capital Group, a venture firm which invests in start-ups run by faculty at or affiliated with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, has invested $500,000 in GeneAssess, a cancer research company, which has discovered a gene named "FRY" which it believes can help detect cancer.
James Golubieski, president of Foundation Venture Capital Group, said it invested in GeneAssess because the FRY gene it has identified appears to be found in breast cancer, but also shows potential for other cancers.
Helmut Zarbl, founder of GeneAssess and a professor of environmental and occupational medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, said: "Our findings suggest that FRY could potentially be used as a platform to develop cancer gene-based susceptibility tests, for disease progression and for tumor grading," explained Dr. This tumor suppressor gene could be useful for developing new targeted drugs, especially for the treatment of aggressive and/or advanced breast cancer."
George F. Heinrich, chief executive of Foundation Venture Capital Group, said: "We see great promise in Dr. Zarbl’s discovery of the FRY gene and how it might be used to affect the diagnosis and treatment of aggressive breast cancers. We are looking forward to working with him to advance his work and help to bring his ideas to commercialization."
