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Molecular diagnostic services company EpigenDX Inc. is taking steps to establish itself in the relatively untouched field of epigenetics.
The Worcester-based company earns its money now by performing non-standard tests under contract for academic and government research, but it has much bigger plans. The company wants to sail into the new waters of epigenetics, creating a test platform for ovarian cancer, said Liying Yan, founder and CEO. She sees this as an ideal market for a small company to start penetrating now, before other competitors emerge. Within three to five years she hopes to have developed the technology into the proof-of-concept stage. “We’re testing the idea now,” she said. “For this research, we’re just in the infant stage.”
Epigenetics is a discipline that seeks to understand how a person’s environment can stimulate the functioning of their genes. EpigenDX’s intention is to create a panel of biomarkers to perform a combined epigenetic and genomic mutation analysis. Instruments will identify epigenetic change potential, and this will help to discover which women are most prone to ovarian cancer and let them react accordingly, said Yan.
Ovarian cancer tends to be discovered after it has already started manifesting symptoms, which is too late, she said. Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. “We’re hoping to find a method for sensitive and accurate screening of ovarian cancer.”
According to Tufts University biochemistry professor Larry Feig, researchers have known for some time that the epigenetics-related process is an important way that genes get regulated in animal development. Now it is becoming clear that “inappropriate epigenetic modifications of genes” can contribute to diseases, including cancer, he said.
To provide funding for the continued research, Yan intends to apply for grants. In the meantime, the company is already making money on its highly specialized molecular clinical research. “We cover the cost of the space and salaries and also the research and development.”
EpigenDX rents space in the Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives incubator facility.
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