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Proteomics

Comparative Analysis Between Olink-PEA and Alamar-NULISA Proteomic Technologies Applied to a Critically Ill COVID-19 Cohort

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  • February 10, 2025
  • Frank Schmidt, et al., Weill Cornell Medicine, Doha, Qatar
Topic/Product:
Inflammation, Inflammation Panel 250
Disease Area:
COVID-19
Sample Type:
Plasma

Abstract

We aim to verify and validate low-abundant plasma proteins from severe COVID-19 cases and controls through a comparative analysis between Olink and Alamar performances. Eighty-three severe cases and 44 controls were measured for proteomics using three Olink panels and one Alamar panel, which share 94 targets. CV, pairwise correlation of intensity signals, and detectability range were compared across platforms. Statistical comparisons were performed using FDR-adjusted linear models with age as a covariate to construct differential protein abundance volcano plots between cases and controls per platform and heatmaps between our cohort and five public cohorts. Overall, pairwise comparisons (n = 94) showed strong correlations among cases (r = 0.82) and controls (r = 0.7). 60/94 proteins had mutual significance on both platforms; of which 54 showed concordant effect direction, and six showed opposite effect direction (IL-6R, IL-1R2, KITLG, TSLP, IL-17C, and IL-4R). Alamar verified 80 and 60 targets from cases and controls, respectively, along with 54 differential proteins from Olink. Compared to public cohorts measured by Olink, our Olink data showed consistent findings from 28 proteins, of which 27 were validated by Alamar.

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Authors & Affiliations

Sara Taleb, Nisha Stephan, Sareena Chennakkandathil, Muhammad Umar Sohail, Sondos Yousef, Hina Sarwath, Muna Al-Noubi, Karsten Suhre, Ali Ait Hssain, 

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Steve Williams, MD, PhD

CSO

Dr. Willams serves as the company’s Chief Scientific Officer. He was previously Chief Medical Officer at Standard Biotools and at SomaLogic where he pioneered the discipline for discovery and validation of predictive, diagnostic and prognostic models using machine-learning applied to large-plex proteomics. 20 such tests were used for drug characterization, safety and efficacy when incorporated in clinical drug trials at Pharma/Biotech and 17 different multivariate tests were validated and translated into regulated healthcare uses. Prior to SomaLogic, Dr. Williams was at Pfizer in the UK and the USA as a clinical triallist in Translational Medicine, and subsequently as VP, Global Clinical Technology. He sat on the National Advisory Council for the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, the Executive Committee for the FNIH Biomarkers Consortium, and worked with FDA and PhRMA on developing evidentiary standards for biomarker qualification. Dr. William’s medical training was in London, at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, followed by a PhD in medicine/physiology at the same institution and training in Radiology at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. Steve is co-inventor on 26 proteomics patents and author/coauthor on multiple foundational proteomics manuscripts.

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Justin McAnear

CFO

Mr. McAnear serves as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. He brings over 25 years of operational and financial leadership experience across various sectors and was instrumental in taking 10x Genomics public in 2019, serving as its CFO for over five years. Mr. McAnear served for over 3 years as Tesla’s VP of Worldwide Finance and Operations, supporting landmark initiatives such as the Model X and Model 3 launches and Solar City acquisition.  He also held various roles at Apple and J&J earlier in his career and served as a naval officer and aviator for over 9 years.