Discovery of a small thing yields the Next Big Thing

In the world of molecular science, serendipity is not simple luck.
So, while researchers at EpiVax Inc. admit to happening upon the peptide that forms the basis of its groundbreaking biomedical innovation, the reason that they were looking in the right place at the right time has to do with the company’s consistent perch on the cutting edge of biotherapeutic research.
Founded in 1998 by Dr. Anne S. De Groot, the winner of Providence Business News’ 2009 Business Women Career Achievement award earlier this year, EpiVax has been following its instincts to new areas since the beginning.
Starting with bioinformatics tools – including proprietary algorithms – to improve vaccines and biologic products, EpiVax has been gathering federal research grants with regularity, while also creating a revenue stream from licensing its research tools. And its latest innovation is likely to place EpiVax onto a bigger stage.
At its core, the discovery of the peptide which EpiVax has named Tregitope has the potential to alter the treatment of both autoimmune diseases and the ability of transplant patients to accept their new organs.
Tregitope “induces tolerance to any protein with which it is co-administered,” according to EpiVax’s Innovation Awards application. The result of that property “has the potential to reduce the number of catastrophic or even deadly effects of some medication used to treat chronic diseases and illnesses that affect hundreds of thousands of patients around the world.”
Those illnesses include Type 1 diabetes, Graves’ disease and Multiple Sclerosis, among others.
In addition, if Tregitope works as EpiVax projects, patients receiving new bone marrow, hearts, livers and lungs would not be required to receive the massive immunosuppressive therapies that keep their bodies from rejecting the new organs but also expose them to unpleasant side effects.
The discovery of Tregitope has garnered more than $1.5 million in research grants so far, as well as the interest of global pharmaceutical giants, and for good reason. EpiVax says that the market for biologics is expected to reach $87 billion worldwide in 2010. The discovery has the potential to unlock the full power of biologic therapies by reducing the incidence of negative side effects.
Tregitope also has the potential to make a major impact on Rhode Island’s biotech community. Due to grants it has attracted, EpiVax has doubled its work force while expanding its work space to 8,000 square feet in Providence’s Jewelry District. And the company is already looking to nearly double that space within the next 18 to 24 months.
All because EpiVax was smart enough to take advantage of an opportunity when it presented itself. &#8226