Epic Sciences
| Private company | |
| Industry | Biotechnology |
| Founder | Peter Kuhn[1] |
| Headquarters | San Diego, California |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Murali Prahalad, President and CEO[2] |
| Products | Liquid biopsy[3] |
| Website |
epicsciences |
Epic Sciences is a company that is developing highly sensitive diagnostic tests to molecularly characterize the circulating tumor cells (CTC) in the blood. The team at Epic has developed a powerful rare-cell detection and characterization platform, which was founded on unique technology from Dr. Peter Kuhn's lab. This technology has been exclusively licensed from The Scripps Research Institute.[4] The technique involves analyzing all the nucleated cells in a blood sample to find CTCs and CTC subtypes and assessing them for genetic mutations and abnormal protein expression.[5] Kuhn is also the cofounder of the company.[2]
In January 2014, the company presented research at the Personalized Medicine World Conference that described their technique for identifying CTCs from a blood sample, and how this could allow oncologists to determine whether a patient's cancer has returned. The company also said the technique could be used to determine whether the patient's cancer is growing resistant to their current treatment regimen.[6][7] In July 2014, the company appointed Gregory T. Lucier as their board chairman.[8]
References
- ↑ Peter Kuhn, Ph.D. - The Scripps Research Institute
- 1 2 Zeliadt, Nicholette (April 1, 2014). "Capturing Cancer Cells on the Move: Three approaches for isolating and characterizing rare tumor cells circulating in the bloodstream Cancer Treatment from Just a Blood Sample". The Scientist.
- ↑ Fluid biopsy in patients with metastatic prostate, pancreatic and breast cancers Phys. Biol. 9
- ↑ Blood Biopsy to Put Cancer in a Test Tube?, Fox News Channel
- ↑ Therapy: This Time It's Personal, Scientific American
- ↑ Gravitz, Lauren (February 21, 2014). "Personalized Cancer Treatment from Just a Blood Sample". Discover Magazine.
- ↑ Tracking CTCs May Improve Cancer Treatment
- ↑ Epic Sciences raises $30 million, San Diego Union-Tribune