EpiVax Inc.’s motto is “science without fear.”
From its new headquarters in the Rising Sun Mills complex, a former wool mill in Olneyville, the privately held company is making advances in computational immunology, genomics and vaccine design that may have a global impact.
Bioinformatics is the science of collecting and analyzing complex biological data, such as genetic codes. EpiVax primarily has applied that to immunology, a branch of medicine covering the human immune system.
Leading EpiVax’s research has been the company’s co-founder and CEO, Dr. Anne S. De Groot, widely known for her work as an associate professor at Brown University on the immune system’s response to vaccines and therapeutics. She is now research professor and director of the University of Rhode Island’s Institute for Immunology and Informatics. She started EpiVax in 1998.
The other side of the business – expertise in mathematics and computer technology – is headed by William Martin, co-founder of EpiVax and the firm’s chief operating and information officer. Building on De Groot’s work, Martin is the principal developer of EpiVax’s EpiMatrix System, a computer “cloud” platform that serves as a vehicle for delivering the company’s research database and “toolkit” to customers via the internet.
EpiVax has been selling its intellectual property through the EpiMatrix system for more than 12 years. The firm’s customers range from pharmaceutical giants to biotechnology startups, which can use EpiMatrix to assist them in the development of vaccines and other treatments, or other research purposes. Another big source of revenue for EpiVax has been research grants.
“All the big [pharma] companies work with us,” De Groot said.
Currently, EpiVax has a staff of 29 people, led by the firm’s core group in bioinformatics, algorithms, immunology and other disciplines. Prior to moving earlier this year, the company was based on Clifford Street in Providence’s Jewelry District. The company wanted to move into the nearby Wexford Innovation Center, but the building isn’t going to be completed until next summer and EpiVax needed more space immediately, De Groot said.
The Olneyville location provides the company with nearly twice the space (8,100 square feet in the Jewelry District compared with 15,000 square feet in the new location) at a lower per-square-foot rent rate. The new location also has more on-site parking and more amenities, including an on-site fitness center and access to a courtyard and walking/bicycling path.
“We were able to increase our footprint today as we prepare for future growth at a reasonable cost,” said Cliff Grimm, EpiVax’s managing director.
Last year, EpiVax won a $5.8 million partnership grant from the National Institutes of Health, a renowned research center in Bethesda, Md., to re-engineer flu vaccine.
In addition, EpiVax has spun off a related venture, Epivax Oncology Inc., to develop precision cancer immunotherapies.
“I am incredibly excited to leverage our computational immunology platform to support Epivax Oncology’s work to design and deliver personalized therapeutic solutions for cancer patients,” De Groot said.
OWNERS: Dr. Anne De Groot, William Martin
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Immunology
LOCATION: 188 Valley St., Providence
EMPLOYEES: 29
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1998
ANNUAL SALES: WND
Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Blake@PBN.com.
