Epiontis develops a novel molecular diagnostics technology that allows to identify and quantify any cell type with accuracy and technical ease.
This technology enables the monitoring of cell types in the human body. In addition it can be used for identification of cells isolated and expanded ex vivo, providing a quality control tool for applications in Regenerative Medicine.
In a wide range of diseases, such as cancer, autoimmune disease, sepsis, and infectious diseases, the immune system fails to act appropriately. In autoimmune diseases, immune reactions are overly active and wrongly targeted. In cancer, the opposite is true, the immune system fails to detect and destroy malignant cells. To develop patient-centered, personalized therapies of the future, there is a great need for an individual assessment of the immune status of each patient.
Epiontis established an assay that allows the monitoring of regulatory T cells (Treg) - the major suppressive component of the immune system. These cells have been shown to play a crucial role in the above mentioned diseases. Additional assays for other types of immune cells with the goal to provide a comprehensive analysis of a patients's individual immune status are currently under development.
Due to both its high precision in the characterization of cellular samples and its technical advantages, DNA methylation analysis offers an ideal tool to improve on the reliability, the ease, and the speed of quality control processes in Regenerative Medicine. This emerging field of medicine uses stem-cell derived differentiated cells to repair damaged tissue in humans. Quality control of the cellular products used for these novel therapeutic approaches is crucial to ensure patient safety.