EpiSwitch will be trialled for the blood-based diagnosis of prostate cancer. Credit: qimono via Pixabay.

UK-based biotechnology company Oxford BioDynamics has partnered with Imperial College London to test its EpiSwitch biomarker assay in the PROSTAGRAM trial for prostate cancer diagnosis.

EpiSwitch is designed to discover, evaluate, validate and monitor epigenetic biomarkers called chromosome conformation signatures, which help analyse genome changes.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Related Company Profiles

View all

It is intended to expedite drug discovery and development, as well as enhance the success rate of therapeutic development. The technology is also said to allow personalisation of medications.

The PROSTAGRAM trial is being conducted to investigate various diagnostic methods for prostate cancer screening. It is led by Imperial College London and funded by the Wellcome Trust, TUF and BMA.

“We are delighted to join forces with a team of world-leading experts in prostate cancer.”

As part of the partnership, Oxford BioDynamics will assess PROSTAGRAM subjects using EpiSwitch for the blood-based diagnosis of prostate cancer. The biomarker assay is based on six epigenetic systemic blood-based markers.

PROSTAGRAM has already commenced enrolment and is expected to involve a total of 406 subjects.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Oxford BioDynamics chief scientific officer Alexandre Akoulitchev said: “We are looking forward to contributing our EpiSwitch blood-based readouts to the comprehensive evaluation of these trial participants.

“We are delighted to join forces with a team of world-leading experts in prostate cancer, and looking forward to potentially improving the detection of prostate cancer at a curable stage by aiding in the development of prostate cancer screening programme.”

EpiSwitch has been developed across multiple cohorts of more than 290 patients with varying disease stages and is said to have demonstrated consistent sensitivity and specificity of around 80% during three blinded validations.

Oxford BioDynamics noted that prostate cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death in men. The cancer is responsible for more than 11,000 deaths annually in the UK.