Coinciding with the historic approval of Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics’ Casgevy as the first CRISPR-based therapeutic, epigenetic editing, which targets parts of the genetic code beyond the DNA itself, is having a moment. One company is already in the clinic, and two more are on pace to follow with therapies based on what some experts say is a safer alternative to gene editing.
Recent in vivo studies show that preserving DNA sequences while altering methylation patterns can be safe and efficacious, encouraging clinical aspirations.
Epic Bio has been named to Fierce Biotech’s 2023 “Fierce 15” list, designating it as one of the most outstanding early-stage biotechnology companies in the industry.
Epic Bio is championing the development of epigenetic therapies to modify gene expression, targeting a range of diseases not currently addressable with existing genetic medicines.
Focused in the field of epigenetics, U.S.-based Epic Bio was spun out of Stanford University in 2018. The startup has built the Gene Expression Modulation System (GEMS), its platform technology, to treat a number of diseases.
The biotechnology company Epic Bio presented preclinical data supporting the potential clinical progress of EPI-321 in treating facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD).
Qi predicted that within two years, we’ll see the first phase 1 trials of epi medicine in humans. He is also the founder of an epi editing company, San Francisco-based Epic Bio, which has promising preclinical data for a type of muscular dystrophy disease.
The San Francisco-based company has taken a step forward with proof of concept for its ‘switch on or switch off’ approach to gene regulation via non-cutting CRISPR molecules.
To overcome the obstacles for CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, the startup Epic Bio was launched in July 2022 with an impressive Series A round worth $55 million.
Epic Bio, founded by Stanford bioengineer Stanley Qi, builds pipeline with tiniest Cas protein, epigenetic modulators, a platform that combines them, and proceeds from $55M Series A.
The startup is funded by Horizons Ventures and led by Amber Salzman, who has headed multiple genetic medicine companies, most recently Adverum Biotechnologies.
Controlling the epigenetics of a patient, figuring out what genes are expressed and understanding their level of expression, is at the center of Epic Bio, a new company founded by Stanley Qi.
Epic Bio is controlling target gene expression using single vectors that combine its highly compact Cas protein with guide RNAs and epigenetic modulators.
By not cutting out the bad part of a gene before replacing it with a correct DNA sequence — the essence of the CRISPR editing technology — the South San Francisco company believes its platform can reduce potential errors and side effects to fix a range of genetic diseases.
A former doctoral candidate in CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna’s lab founded a new biotech seeking to wade into “epigenetics-level gene editing,” and has now secured enough capital to do just that.
"It was great to attend #FierceBiotechSummit today and be honored for our #Fierce15 win. Thanks, @FierceBiotech, for the recognition and @LifeSciEvents, for the nice trophy we’ll display in our office! #FSHD #EpicBio #epigenetics "
"Preprint's up!
We built a discovery pipeline for CRISPRa/i tools and ML models to engineer them for more precise control of target gene expression. @EpicBiotech
Discovery and engineering of hypercompact epigenetic modulators for durable gene activation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.02.543492v3 "
"Check out our preprint of "Discovery and engineering of hypercompact epigenetic modulators for durable gene activation."
#EpicBio #epigenetics #genomicmedicine #EpigeneticEngineering"
