News Coverage

June 12, 2008

Orion Genomics LLC is hopeful that by the end of next year, it will begin selling a simple blood test that can identify people who are at elevated risk of developing colon cancer.

May 2007

BioWorld Perspectives, "Michael Crichton's Next"

Companies need funding to get from gene to end-product, [BIO's Lisa Feisee] said, and "there is no way anyone will put money into your company without patents" on the gene or protein. Nathan Lakey, president and CEO of Orion Genomics, a cancer diagnostic company, agreed. Without patents to provide value, "who is going to find the relationships between genes and diseases?" he asked.

April 2007

New Scientist, "A Natural Progression"

The question is, can patterns of methylation be correlated with types of cancer and, if so, can this be used as the basis of a diagnostic tool? Orion believes so. "We believe that epigenetic analysis is a fantastic opportunity for a diagnostic system that can quickly identify high-frequency differential methylation between normal and diseased tissue," says Lakey. Orion has developed technology to screen the methylation status of DNA sequences. The methylation pattern could be used to classify different types of cancer, or to detect cancer in biopsies or even samples of saliva or urine that could contain abnormal cells.

February 2007

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, "Diagnosis, Prognosis and Therapy Selection"

Jared Ordway, senior scientist and group leader of biomarker discovery at Orion Genomics says, "Tumor cells undergo epigenetic alternations including global changes in DNA methylation, a chemical signal that resides on the DNA and provides the cell with an adaptable mechanism for gene regulation. Unlike RNA, proteins, and other metabolic products, DNA methylation states are remarkably stable and therefore provide a robust biomarker platform with significant diagnostic potential". To that end, Orion developed a technology called MethylScope to allow for accurate global profiling of DNA methylation density across the genome.

January 2007

Bio-IT World, "Micrroarrays for Methylation"

In October, Orion announced a collaboration with Mayo Clinic to study the clinical utility of Orion's breast cancer screening tests, which are based on epigenetic biomarkers identified using Orion's DNA methylation technologies. The Mayo Clinic and Orion will validate the tumor specificity of Orion's breast cancer biomarkers by analyzing epigenetic biomarkers in more than a dozen additional cancer types. Orion has so far discovered and validated over 50 novel breast cancer biomarkers.

January 20, 2006

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Orion Genomics teams on cancer"

Orion Genomics LLC, which is pioneering a method for early cancer detection and improved treatment, said Thursday it has partnered with a leading research team at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.

January 2006

Pharma, "DNA Methylation for Early Cancer Detection"

Second Code biomarkers, or DNA methylation patterns, provide information on the regulation of genes. The research is being used to develop tests that can detect trace amounts of methylated tumour DNA in easy to access tissues such as blood serum, biopsies, and cell scraps. Nathan Lakey, CEO and President of Orion Genomics, discusses what epigenetics is, and what the future could be for this technique.

June 24, 2005

Wall Street Journal, Science Journal, Sharon Begley, "Imprinted Genes Offer Key to Some Diseases - And to Possible Cures"

Sharon Begley explores imprinting, a process by which normal genes are regulated (silenced) by a tag that sits on top of the DNA. Begley discusses Orion's technology and molecular diagnostics that can detect the 'second genetic code,' or the pattern of silencers on DNA and how this technology is important for the early warning of disease.

June 7, 2005

GenomeWeb, "Orion Genomics Teams up with Johns Hopkins Researcher to Develop DNA Methylation-Based Colon Cancer Dx"

Orion recently established a collaboration with Dr. Andrew Feinberg to research the role epigenetics plays in colon cancer. Data resulting from this collaboration will enable Orion Genomics to develop a new type of molecular diagnostic test for colon cancer.

June 6, 2005

BioCentury, Christopher Maggos, "Orion: Dense Diagnostics"

Maggos delves into Orion's technology in this piece and outlines the benefits of not only being able to detect DNA's 'Second Code' but to decipher the degree of silencing on DNA. Orion's molecular diagnostics, the technology and the potential these diagnostics have in human disease, particularly cancer are outlined.

April, 2005

Genome Technology, "Attack on Cancer"

Genome Technology explores emerging and promising technologies for the treatment of cancer. Orion Genomics' methylation detection technology was featured as an innovative approach that holds significant promise for the early detection of cancer.

January 4, 2005

St. Louis Business Journal, "Orion Genomics Donates Sorghum DNA Sequence to Public"

Orion Genomics' technology has been used successfully to generate revenue in the agricultural arena through collaborations that use Orion's technology in the sequencing of important cereal crop genomes. Historically, plant genome sequencing has been extremely difficult due to the large portion of 'junk DNA' and Orion's technologies can filter out this junk DNA allowing for the sequencing of many diverse plant genomes.