Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology - by Ryan McBride Mass High Tech April 18, 2008
Epigenetics. It's a familiar term in research circles, and now it's on the tongues of more and more venture capitalists in Boston, who see big dollar signs in the science's potential.
Epigenetics involves activating and deactivating genes in cells -- similar to how a pianist decides which keys to play -- without changing the structure of DNA. The ability to manipulate epigenetic activity could lead to powerful new drugs for cancer and other serious diseases.
This promise has inspired former executives of Cambridge biotech powerhouse Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. to create two new epigenetics startups in the Boston area. The launches follow multibillion-dollar buyouts of earlier epigenetics firms by large drug companies.
And scientists in the Hub area have made key discoveries related to epigenetics. Mark Levin, a founder and former CEO of Millennium, is forming an epigenetics startup called Constellation Pharmaceuticals Inc. through Third Rock Ventures, the Boston VC firm he cofounded last year. At Boston life sciences investment firm MPM Capital, partners have quietly started a firm with similar technology, EpiZyme Inc.
For MPM, EpiZyme is at least its second epigenetics investment. The firm has also backed Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Waltham, which raised $40 million last spring in a Series A round of VC to advance an epigenetic drug for cancer into midstage clinical trials.
In fact, Syndax CEO Joanna Horobin said she saw several biotech firms touting their epigenetics drugs this week in San Diego at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research. "It does suggest that the field and the industry sees this as very promising," she said by phone.
Syndax has begun Phase 2 clinical trials of an epigenetic drug known as an HDACi, or histone deacetylase inhibitor, to treat lung cancer. The compound is designed to block histone enzymes, which crowd up in tumor cells and suppress genes important to cellular health, according to Syndax.
Constellation Pharmaceuticals was expected to announce the close of a round of venture capital this week or next week, said Adriana Jenkins, a spokeswoman for Third Rock.
Levin isn't the only former Millennium exec to get into the epigenetics game. Kazumi Shiosaki, an executive partner at MPM, who worked for Levin at Millennium, is listed as president of EpiZyme in state documents. Both Third Rock and MPM declined requests to be interviewed for this story.
The anti-cancer effects of HDACi drugs prompted drug giant Merck & Co. Inc. of New Jersey to buy Garden State biotech firm Aton Pharma Inc. for $125.5 million in 2004. The deal brought Merck ownership of Zolinza, the first HDACi to garner approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In Massachusetts, Gloucester Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge is developing an HDACi drug for blood cancer, and both Waltham-based biotech firm Repligen Corp. and EnVivo Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Watertown are studying the compounds as treatments for neurological diseases.
Two of the largest biotech buyouts in the past year have involved companies with epigenetic drugs. MGI Pharma Inc., which markets an epigenetic drug called Dacogen for blood disorders linked to a form of leukemia, was acquired by Japanese drug firm Eisai Co. Ltd. for $3.9 billion in January. MGI is based in Bloomington, Minn., but has a large research presence in Lexington. And last year, New Jersey drug-maker Celgene Inc. bought Boulder, Colo.-based Pharmion Corp., which markets epigenetic drug Vidaza, also for blood disorders, in a deal worth $2.9 billion.
Some of the leading research in epigenetics is done at sites in the Boston area. At the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MIT biology professor Rudolf Jaenisch has led studies of how epigenetic factors could be used to reprogram mature cells to an embryonic stem cell-like state.
Jacob Hanna, postdoctoral researcher in Jaenisch's lab at Whitehead, said the lab's epigenetics research could aid in the development of new treatments for such diseases as sickle-cell anemia and diabetes. He declined to comment on whether any biotech firms had licensed patents based on the research.
And Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston has done studies on how epigenetic mechanisms function in breast cancer. According to published research, Dana-Farber has discovered that epigenetic changes in non-cancerous breast cells could send signals to genes in tumor cells to accelerate growth.
Both Merck and Swiss pharma giant Novartis AG said they perform epigenetics research at their Boston-area locations.
Epigentek Group Inc. is the leading developer and provider of innovative technologies for epigenetic-related products. The company has developed a comprehensive portfolio of more than 400 proprietary products to provide complete and systematic solutions for epigenetics-related research and drug discovery.
Gmr Epigenetics Corporation Company This company profile is for the private company Gmr Epigenetics Corporation, located in Palo Alto, CA. Gmr Epigenetics Corporation's line of business is mfg pharmaceutical preparations.
Sigma-Aldrich today announced the launch of its Imprint(TM) Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Kit for epigenetic research (http://www.sigma.com/chip). The Imprint(TM) ChIP Kit provides a complete solution for Chromatin Immunoprecipitation, including columns and reagents for DNA purification as well as an integrated protocol for ChIP DNA amplification with the GenomePlex(R) Whole Genome Amplification Kit. This flexible format allows for immunoprecipitation and purification of DNA from mammalian cells or tissue in a convenient microwell format.
ChIP is an innovative technology that enables scientists to investigate complex DNA-protein interactions in vivo, potentially increasing the speed and accuracy of disease research and drug discovery. The Imprint(TM) ChIP Kit provides researchers with rapid and accurate results, enabling high-throughput, same-day downstream analyses via quantitative PCR, MS-PCR, and DNA sequencing as well as DNA microarray. With the shortest protocol time and highest throughput capabilities on the market, the Imprint(TM) ChIP Kit, offers significant time and cost savings to epigenetic researchers.
Epiontis..Our novel analytical products, based on DNA methylation, are aimed at making Regenerative Medicine safer and better. Methylation analysis is the most appropriate technology for Quality Control (QC) of cells. Such QC is essential for cell therapy appproaches, which are seen as a very promising area of the health care market. Epiontis offers its QC-tool to partners in this industry, i.e., to companies that produce cell therapeutics. Thus, Epiontis safeguards the patients by ensuring that cell therapies are help- rather than harmful.
Epiontis is supported by a network of renowned academic partners and companies with expertise in Regenerative Medicine and DNA methylation. The company is based in Berlin, Germany
Constellation isn't the only company trying to mine epigenetics. Venture capital firms MPM Capital of Boston and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have quietly launched EpiZyme Inc., an epigenetics company focused on drugs for cancer and other diseases. The five-month-old biotech, which has office space in Waltham and North Carolina.
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Surely, there are some "gems" in them thar hills......
Epigenetics - epigenomics is one of the "new" -omics and the best approach isn't clear yet IMHO. Thus, it's hard to say whose IP is most valuable. Ditto for picking winners and losers.
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