The Missing Piece: Epinoma Advances Novel Disease Detection Tech
Epinoma leverages the detection of epigenetic signals in the body for early-stage cancer detection and minimal residual disease monitoring.
An early-stage biotechnology company, Epinoma, has licensed a DNA methylation analysis technology from the University of Chicago as part of its work developing novel tools for early cancer detection and disease monitoring.
DNA methylation is a normal biological process key to the function and development of cells, but when dysregulated, can contribute to diseases like cancer.
The ability to accurately measure methylation levels and patterns in a patient’s blood would enable disease detection months earlier than conventional methods. But the field has long struggled as most currently available technologies that are designed to measure methylation also destroy the molecules they are trying to measure.
Providing a blueprint for how to overcome these limitations and achieve methylation-preserving amplification, research out of Chuan He’s lab at the University of Chicago outlined a novel, biologically inspired mechanism for epigenetic replication.
Recognizing the potential, Epinoma licensed the IP through the Polsky Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and began developing it into a commercial-grade technology.
“It is very gratifying to see this invention from our laboratory being commercialized. Epinoma has done an excellent job transforming a lab method into a robust kit that can benefit a broad community of researchers — and, hopefully, physicians in the near future,” said He, John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Chemistry at UChicago.
A prolific inventor, Chuan He was the first to champion the idea that modifications to RNA are reversible and can control gene expression. His groundbreaking studies helped open a new field in biology known as epitranscriptomics. (Photo by Jason Smith/University of Chicago)
Over the past several years, the team at Epinoma has focused on adapting and optimizing the chemistry so that it is commercially viable. “The mechanism was elegant and intuitive—inspired by our own cellular mechanisms. But it wasn’t plug-and-play for fragmented, real-world samples. That’s where we focused,” explained Varun Govil, CEO of Epinoma, speaking to He’s work.
A key breakthrough came when the Epinoma team was able to demonstrate methylation-preserving amplification on both high-quality genomic DNA and fragmented cell-free DNA. This meant they could dramatically enhance the sensitivity and reliability of epigenetic diagnostics, particularly in oncology.
The technology, called EpiAmp, “represents a major step forward as we break away from the paradigm of current technologies for methylation detection,” explained Govil, who said the company is already drawing the attention of major sequencing and diagnostic players, many of whom see the EpiAmp technology as “the missing piece for early-stage detection.”
“Talking to researchers in academia and industry has really highlighted the need and excitement for the EpiAmp technology. The deep insights from these conversations has helped us fine-tune many aspects of the technology, including efforts for low-input applications,” he added.
Currently, Epinoma is accelerating integration and adoption of EpiAmp for a wide range of research and clinical applications, while performing clinical experiments and proof-of-concept work to demonstrate its advantages over current tests.
Among these benefits, Govil noted that the EpiAmp is its platform-agnostic and therefore suitability for many different sample types. Additionally, the technology has been validated on many different sequencing systems and readouts.
“Long-term, Epinoma’s vision extends well beyond assay performance. The company is positioned to create more high-fidelity methylation datasets. Such high-quality measurements could be critical to making AI-enabled cancer diagnostics a more feasible reality,” said Govil. “We really see EpiAmp ushering in the next-generation of methylation tools and assays, and becoming the foundational layer for data-driven biological insights.”
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