News Release

New Jersey Commission On Science, Innovation And Technology Phase II Catalyst Research Grant Awarded to Biotech Support Group

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ, March 31, 2025 -- Biotech Support Group announces receipt of a NEW JERSEY COMMISSION ON SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Phase II Catalyst Research Award of $40,000. The Research Award entitled “Evaluating the NRicher™ Bead Platform for Targeted LC-MS Quantification” will be conducted at The Rutgers Biological Mass Spectrometry Facility. This award follows from the Catalyst Phase I Award demonstrating simple workflows that generate low abundance enrichment of sub-proteomes suitable for quantitative plasma proteomics.

Background

The NRicher™ platform began 15 years ago, as a non-biological porous silica bead-based technology with a goal to differentially enrich sub-proteomes from complex proteomes. From this platform, several commercial products were derived, notably AlbuVoid™ and HemoVoid™ that are now well established in the field. Following our lead, over the last few years, other products have been commercialized dedicated to enhancing proteome coverage, especially from biofluids like blood. 

Purpose of the Research

While coverage remains an important aspect for discovery proteomics using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS), for targeted proteomics there are different sample prep demands. In targeted proteomics, specific proteins of interest have already been pre-identified, either through initial discovery efforts, or selected from gene expression and published data. Once selected, what then becomes necessary is more precise quantification of the pre-identified targets in robust cost-effective workflows, so as to confirm validity and potential utility as biomarkers.

Consequently, targeted proteomics is emerging as a compelling alternative to traditional antibody-based methods for potential diagnostic and clinical utility. Nevertheless, the precise measurement of specific target peptides remains a significant challenge. Co-eluting peptides from non-targets can generate ions similar to the targeted peptide, as well as suppress ionization. These interferences lead to challenges in distinguishing and accurately quantifying the intended target signal amid background non-target noise. This is especially problematic for low abundance peptides from complex biological samples like blood plasma. A simple sample prep that can enrich specific protein(s) of interest in targeted proteomic workflows is therefore highly desirable.

Towards this goal, the research supported by this grant will allow us to investigate up to 10 different NRicher™ bead chemistries, surveying the full LC-MS signal intensity landscape of the plasma proteome. With a vision towards moving beyond strict protein abundance measurements, we intend to dedicate a significant portion of the research towards target peptides that report functional, post-translational and mutational variant regions that might otherwise be overlooked due to signal to noise complexity. Such regions promise actionable insights into disease and personalized medical decisions, not possible with other ‘omic’ analyses.

“We deeply appreciate the commitment from the State of New Jersey, to advance bioscience innovations. This award accelerates our NRicher™ platform to a next generation of products. These will feature all the combined beneficial attributes from our current products: they are all consumable, are species agnostic, have enriched sub-proteomes with functional integrity, and for LC-MS, digestion can be performed on-bead, without the use of detergents, for simplified and seamless workflows. All these benefits will be focused on improving targeted proteomic sample prep”, states Dr. Swapan Roy, Ph.D., President and Founder of Biotech Support Group.

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Keywords: Low Abundance Protein Enrichment, NRicher™, quantitative proteomics, plasma proteomics, targeted proteomics, Parallel Reaction Monitoring (PRM), Selected Reaction Monitoring (SRM), LC-MS proteomics, proteomic biomarkers

About Biotech Support Group LLC

Converging with cultural and technological disruptions forthcoming in healthcare, Biotech Support Group develops methods for cost effective and efficient sample prep essential for expanding proteomic analysis. Following a tiered business strategy, the company continues its growth in the consumable research products area. For this market, key products include: AlbuVoid™ and AlbuSorb™ PLUS for albumin & IgG depletion, Cleanascite™ for lipid adsorption, HemogloBind™ and HemoVoid™ for hemoglobin removal, and NRicher™ for low abundance targeted proteomics, and family specific sub-proteome enrichment. For more information, go to http://www.biotechsupportgroup.com

For business development contact: Matthew Kuruc
732-274-2866 mkuruc@biotechsupportgroup.com