BERLIN, SYDNEY, Australia, and BALTIMORE, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ --
Epigenomics AG, a transatlantic biotech company, announced today that it has
gained access to two new technologies through a licensing agreement with Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA and an option agreement with
Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
(CSIRO) Division of Molecular Science based in Sydney, for the early detection
of solid tumors. These two separate agreements will further enhance
Epigenomics' lead in the field of DNA methylation and its role in disease
detection and monitoring. DNA methylation is a natural "switch" that controls
gene expression giving rise to distinct patterns in cells, including those
found in cancer and other diseases. These patterns allow the early detection
and classification of tumors from tissue and bodily fluids, such as blood
serum or urine samples.
    In addition, Epigenomics announced that Prof. Andrew Feinberg (M.D.,
M.P.H), Johns Hopkins University and Associate Prof. Susan Clark, (PhD), the
Sydney Cancer Centre have joined the company's Scientific Advisory Board
(SAB). The addition of these renowned individuals brings together most of the
world's leading methylation experts to the SAB of Epigenomics.
    "These technologies provide additional leverage for the successful
development of our products in early detection and classification of prostate,
colon and breast cancer. With Susan and Andrew joining our SAB, the leadership
of Epigenomics in the development of DNA-methylation based personalized
medicines is supported and confirmed," Alexander Olek, CEO of Epigenomics,
commented.
    From Johns Hopkins University, Epigenomics has in-licensed exclusive
worldwide rights to a package of technologies that cover the diagnosis and
treatment of cancer based on genomic imprinting, an epigenetic marking process
that causes some genes to be expressed according to their parental origin.
This technology, which complements Epigenomics' proprietary technology,
involves a method for assessing the risk of contracting a disease, such as
cancer, based on a biological sample.
    Furthermore, Dr. Feinberg's laboratory at Johns Hopkins University has
discovered CpG islands that are methylated in normal cells but are
unmethylated in the diseased state. These will be used in Epigenomics'
proprietary marker development pipeline; yielding new DNA-methylation based
marker candidates every day. A panel of markers is used the development of
Epigenomics' molecular diagnostic products.
    The option agreement with the CSIRO covers the so-called "headloop" assay
technology that allows the clear detection of tumor DNA, and distinguishes it
from normal DNA, in a blood sample. This is important because non-cancerous
"normal" DNA in blood samples often distorts the detection of tumors using
currently available methods.
    Epigenomics already pursues research agreements and conducts clinical
studies with CSIRO and other organizations in order to develop products to
enable detection of prostate and other tumors, such as colon and breast, at an
early stage. These early disease detection diagnostics will be complemented by
tests that classify tumors at a molecular level and predict patient's response
to particular drug treatments.
    Both Professors Clark and Feinberg are pioneers in the field of DNA
methylation and have contributed significant research to the field. Associate
Professor Susan Clark developed bisulfite sequencing, allowing researchers to
detect methylation at any given cytosine in DNA. This has led to a better
understanding of the dynamics of the methylation process and its role in
development, genomic imprinting, gene expression, and cancer. Subsequently she
discovered potentially useful diagnostic markers for the early detection of
prostate cancer that could help the development of a blood-based prostate
cancer screening test through a collaboration with scientists from CSIRO.
Prof. Feinberg discovered the role of epigenetics in cancer and later
identified the first known human imprinted genes, as well as loss of
imprinting in cancer, and its relationship to abnormal DNA methylation. He has
made outstanding contributions to the development of techniques that have
revolutionized molecular biology approaches of cancer.
    With Stephan Beck (The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute), Prof. Dr. Manfred
Dietel (Charite), Jorg Hoheisel (DKFZ), Rudolf Jaenisch (MIT/Whitehead
Institute), Peter Jones and Peter Laird (both USC Norris Cancer Center),
Christoph Plass (Ohio State University), and Wolf Reik (The Babraham
Institute) already on its SAB, Epigenomics has access to the world's foremost
group of experts in DNA-methylation.
    Epigenomics is committed to significantly improving the treatment of
cancer and other complex diseases by developing novel diagnostic and
pharmacogenomic products based on DNA methylation. By detecting and
interpreting DNA methylation patterns, the "on" and "off" signs for genes,
Epigenomics can create a digitized readout (Digital Phenotype(R)) for each
cell. The comparison of a patient's cells against healthy and sick reference
samples enables an exact diagnosis of disease at a very early stage and
provides physicians with essential information to help guide an appropriate
therapy. The combination of diagnosis and therapy, based on this information
and robust proprietary technology, is "personalizing" medicine. Epigenomics is
supported by a network of renowned academic researchers and clinicians, with
expertise in the fields of cancer and DNA methylation. The company has its
headquarters in Berlin, Germany, and a wholly owned subsidiary in Seattle,
USA.

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