sphingotec announces new data on the kidney function marker proenkephalin (penKid®) presented at 24th International Conference on Advances in Critical Care Nephrology
sphingotec announces new data on the kidney function marker proenkephalin (penKid®) presented at 24th International Conference on
Advances in Critical Care Nephrology
- Medical leaders in renal critical care presented study data at the 24th AKI & CRRT conference supporting the hypothesis that plasma penKid® levels reflect kidney function in critically ill burn patients, heart failure patients, and sepsis patients closing the gap to near-time diagnosis and monitoring of acute kidney injury (AKI).
- Peer-reviewed results from the Valsartan Heart Failure Trial (Val-HeFT) comparing the biological variation of renal biomarker tests demonstrate that sphingotest® penKid® is the very first diagnostic test capable to rule out AKI with a single measurement and best-in-class in terms of early diagnosis.
- Medical leaders recommend to include low penKid® levels as exclusion criterion for AKI in triaging and for routine testing at emergency departments.
- Critical care experts announced to evaluate clinical utility of sphingotest® penKid® in renal transplant function/dysfunction.
- Automated point-of-care (POC) penKid® testing on NEXUS IB 10 platform to be launched at intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency departments (EDs) by summer 2019.
HENNIGSDORF, GERMANY - March 14, 2019
- German diagnostics company SphingoTec GmbH (Hennigsdorf) announced that leaders in critical care nephrology have confirmed clinical utility of the company’s glomerular filtration biomarker penKid® for early diagnosis, exclusion and monitoring of acute kidney injury (AKI). Data from prospective, observational studies presented at the 24th International Conference on Advances in Critical Care Nephrology (AKI & CRRT; 26 Feb-1 March, 2019) in San Diego demonstrate that penKid® is suitable to guide treatment decisions at ICUs and EDs.
At the AKI & CRRT conference, Prof. Matthieu Legrand (Critical Care Medicine & Burn Unit at Hôpital Lariboisière Paris, France) reported results from a substudy of the PRONOburn cohort that enrolled 113 burn patients admitted to burn intensive care units (ICUs). High penKid® levels at admission (> 80 pmol/L) were sufficient to predict acute kidney injury (AKI) even when other indicators such as the SOFA score gave no sufficient information (p<0.001). In sepsis patients, enrolled in the FROG-ICU and AdrenOSS-1 cohorts, including more than 1,100 patients, elevated penKid® plasma levels identified sub-AKI while creatinine values remained normal (1 out of 4 patients). Sub-AKI was associated
with worse outcomes.
Peer-reviewed data [1] on the biological variation of four AKI biomarker tests in patients with stable heart disease presented by Dr. Alan Wu (UCLA, San Francisco) demonstrated that penKid® is best suited for early diagnosis of renal insufficiency in clinical practice. Data from 85 individuals enrolled in the Valsartan Heart Failure Trial (Val-HeFT) support that penKid® testing would be of value in managing patients in EDs and ICUs. Commenting on the results, key opinion leaders suggested to add penKid® measurements to AKI routine testing for triaging and monitoring, which today only allows delayed information using available biomarkers.
“The biovariability of a biomarker is a key attribute, but not tested for many of the novel kidney markers. penKid® shows a low variability – allowing information with the first measurement,” said Dr. Wu. “penKid® has a huge value to rule out patients in EDs,” confirmed Prof. Salvatore Di Somma, Head of Emergency Medicine Sant'Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy. sphingotec showed data from pilot routine testing, which has already begun at undisclosed ICUs and EDs in Germany. Study leaders confirmed that triaging will be supported by penKid® information, because the marker can rule out AKI as BNP rules out Heart Failure. David Bruno, Director of the University of Maryland Transplant Surgery Program announced starting tests with penKid® to predict graft function recovery in kidney transplantation.
Plasma penKid® is a surrogate marker for disturbed renal glomerular filtration rate (GFR), which reflects kidney function. Previous studies on more than 30,000 critically ill patients admitted to EDs or ICUs with congestive heart failure [2] or sepsis [3] demonstrated that penKid® levels change dynamically with the actual kidney function independently from comorbidities or inflammation [4]. penKid® levels rise up to 48 hours prior to those of creatinine preceding kidney injury (AKI), which affects about 25 percent of patients admitted to ICUs.
By the end of H1/2019, sphingotec will launch a penKid® point-of-care (POC) test on its fully automated Nexus IB10 POC testing platform for use in EDs and ICUs. The platform allows measurement of up to five critical care biomarker tests in one run within 20 minutes without any sample preparation.
[1] Wu, A., Anand, I. (2018) Biological variation of plasma proenkephalin: data from a stable heart failure cohort.
[2] Chan S. et al. (2018) Proenkephalin in Heart Failure; Kanagala P. et al.: Proenkephalin and prognosis in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: a GREAT network study.
[3] Hollinger et al. (2018) Proenkephalin A 119-159 (Penkid) Is an Early Biomarker of Septic Acute Kidney Injury: The Press Release Kidney in Sepsis and Septic Shock (Kid-SSS) Study
[4] Beunders, R. et al. (2017) Proenkephalin (PENK) as a novel biomarker for kidney function.
About SphingoTec GmbH:
SphingoTec GmbH (Hennigsdorf, Germany) is developing and marketing innovative biomarkers such as penKid® and bioADM® for prediction, diagnosis and therapy monitoring of AKI, congestive heart failure and septic shock, as well as the Nexus IB10 POC testing immunoassay platform acquired from Samsung-subsidiary Nexus Dx Inc. in May 2018. The company, founded by Dr. Andreas Bergmann in 2002, in addition is developing a pipeline of novel biomarkers which can predict the risks of obesity, breast cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
About International Conference on Advances in Critical Care Nephrology:
The AKI & CRRT conference provides a comprehensive review of advances in clinical care, research and technology in critical care medicine with a focus on the
kidney and renal support techniques.
About penKid®:
penKid® is the very first functional kidney marker that works in blood. penKid® is independent from comorbidities and inflammation and provides timely information about the changing kidney function in critically ill patients. sphingotest® penKid® is non-inferior to the gold standard in vivo measurement of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). These features enable physicians to diagnose and closely monitor worsening and improving kidney function in critically ill patients.
In a prospective, real-world study of 1,436 critically ill ICU patients, proenkephalin A 119–159 (penKid) provided clinically relevant information across AKI severity and during kidney replacement therapy (KRT). PenKid addressed a key unmet need in KRT management by identifying, with greater precision than standard biomarkers, patients at high risk of KRT liberation failure – helping to avoid stopping therapy too early. The findings support a future role for penKid in helping to standardize one of the few intensive care processes where the need for better decision support is widely acknowledged and current tools remain insufficient. Hennigsdorf, Germany – August 27, 2026 – SphingoTec GmbH announces the publication of new real-world data on proenkephalin A 119–159 (penKid) in critically ill patients. The data, published in Annals of Intensive Care, add to the growing body of evidence supporting penKid as a functional biomarker for kidney function and help inform clinical decision-making in AKI and KRT (1). In a prospective observational study at Heidelberg University Hospital, penKid was measured in 1,436 critically ill patients, including 138 patients receiving KRT for liberation analyses. The findings showed that penKid rose with AKI severity and, unlike serum creatinine and urine output, distinguished stage 3 AKI patients with and without an acute KRT requirement. In contrast to serum creatinine, penKid also differentiated acute KRT patients from those with pre-existing kidney failure and on chronic hemodialysis prior ICU admission, even while KRT treatment was ongoing (1). The study further showed that penKid levels increased progressively from the start of KRT, while serum creatinine decreased under treatment. Following successful liberation from KRT, penKid declined, whereas higher levels were seen in cases of liberation failure. In multivariable analysis, penKid was the strongest independent predictor of liberation failure and outperformed serum creatinine. A penKid cut-off of ≥250 pmol/L provided more than 90% specificity for liberation failure (1). By identifying patients at high risk of unsuccessful liberation, penKid may help clinicians make KRT discontinuation decisions more objectively, reduce the risk of stopping therapy too early, and support more standardized decision-making across critical care settings. “These data are important because they address a real-world clinical problem: how to better assess kidney function and support KRT decisions when standard markers fall short,” said Deborah Bergmann, CEO of SphingoTec. “penKid provides clinicians with an objective, real-time measurable parameter that may help support more informed and consistent kidney-related decisions in critical care.” Christian Nusshag, MD, Department of Nephrology, Heidelberg University Hospital, said: “Current markers often leave clinicians with an incomplete picture. Our findings suggest that penKid may help standardize decision-making by providing additional, actionable information on kidney integrity and recovery.” About penKid, scientific insights PenKid is a biomarker that enables real-time assessment of kidney function. Unlike conventional markers such as serum creatinine, penKid levels are not influenced by inflammation or other confounding factors like age or sex. Studies have shown that penKid allows earlier detection of AKI, predicting changes in serum creatinine up to 48 hours before conventional diagnostic criteria are met. This early detection capability is particularly valuable in critically ill patients, including those with sepsis or septic shock. Additionally, penKid has shown potential for monitoring renal recovery under KRT and could help predict successful liberation from KRT. About SphingoTec SphingoTec GmbH ("SphingoTec"; Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Germany) is a biomarker company focusing on the out-licensing of innovative critical care solutions for diagnosing, predicting, and monitoring acute medical conditions. SphingoTec develops its biomarkers to the commercial stage and partners with IVD companies to make them available on different IVD platforms. SphingoTec's proprietary biomarker portfolio includes Proenkephalin A 119-159 (penKid), a biomarker for the assessment of kidney function in critical diseases, and bioactive Adrenomedullin 1-52 (bio-ADM), a biomarker for the assessment of endothelial function in conditions like acute heart failure. Discover more on www.sphingotec.com References (1) Gabriel DC, Sauer P, Happel R, et al. Proenkephalin A for Assessing Kidney Integrity and Guiding KRT Liberation Decisions in Critically Ill Patients. Annals of Intensive Care. 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.aicoj.2026.100113. Media Contact: Email: press@sphingotec.com Phone +49-3302-20565-0 SphingoTec GmbH Neuendorfstr. 15A 16761 Hennigsdorf, Germany
Hennigsdorf, Germany – August 19, 2026 – Over the coming months, SphingoTec will be present at a series of leading conferences in diagnostics and critical care medicine. These engagements reflect the company’s ongoing commitment to advancing biomarker-driven solutions that support earlier and more precise clinical decision-making in acute and critical care settings. The company’s conference schedule includes: DGAI (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Anästhesiologie und Intensivmedizin), September 16-18, 2026, Kassel, Germany Kongress für Nephrologie 2026 (DGFN / Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nephrologie), October 08-11, 2026, Leipzig, Germany ESICM Lives, October 10-14, 2026, Lisbon, Portugal – SphingoTec will co-host a Scientific Symposium together with business partner Boditech, focusing on innovations in sepsis diagnostics. In parallel, new clinical data on penKid in a multicenter sepsis study will be presented as a poster at the ESICM congress. ASN Kidney Week 2026, Denver, CO, USA, October 22–25, 2026 – penKid takes center stage in the poster sessions with the abstract “Proenkephalin Predicts Severe AKI in High-Risk Patients” Medica, November 16-19, 2026, Düsseldorf, Germany – Focus on expanding SphingoTec’s international industry network and advancing partnering opportunities for its biomarker portfolio. DIVI (Deutsche Interdisziplinäre Vereinigung für Intensiv- und Notfallmedizin), December 2-4, 2026, Hamburg, Germany “These events bring together clinicians, researchers, and industry partners who share our goal of improving outcomes for patients in critical care,” said Deborah Bergmann, CEO of SphingoTec. “By presenting our latest data and engaging in direct dialogue, we aim to strengthen collaborations that translate biomarker innovation into real clinical value.” About SphingoTec SphingoTec GmbH ("SphingoTec"; Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Germany) is a biomarker company focusing on the out-licensing of innovative critical care solutions for diagnosing, predicting, and monitoring acute medical conditions. SphingoTec develops its biomarkers to the commercial stage and partners with IVD companies to make them available on different IVD platforms. SphingoTec's proprietary biomarker portfolio includes Proenkephalin A 119-159 (penKid), a biomarker for the assessment of kidney function in critical diseases, and bioactive Adrenomedullin 1-52 (bio-ADM), a biomarker for the assessment of endothelial function in conditions like acute heart failure. Discover more on www.sphingotec.com Media Contact: Email: press@sphingotec.com Phone +49-3302-20565-0 SphingoTec GmbH Neuendorfstr. 15A 16761 Hennigsdorf, Germany