How industry is approaching the search for new diagnostic markers and biomarkers

In the diagnostic and the pharmaceutical industry there is a constant need for new diagnostic markers and biomarkers with improved sensitivity and specificity. During the last 5 years, only a few novel diagnostic markers have been introduced into the market. Proteomics technologies are now offering unique chances to identify new candidate markers. Before a marker can be introduced into the market, three successive developmental phases have to be completed: the discovery phase, in which a variety of proteomics technologies are applied to identify marker candidates; the prototype developmental phase, in which immunological assays are established and validated in defined sample collectives; and finally the product development phase, with assay formats suitable for automated platforms. The hurdles that a potential candidate marker has to pass in each developmental phase before reaching the market are considerable. The costs are increasing from phase to phase, and in industry a number of questions concerning the medical need and the potential return on investment have to be answered before a proteomics discovery project is started. In this review, we will cover aspects of all three developmental phases including the repertoire of discovery tools for protein separation as well as giving an outline of modern principles of mass spectrometry for the identification of proteins.