Erisyon has received a $2.2 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)

Erisyon, a company specializing in single-molecule proteomics technology, has announced that it has secured a $2.2 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).

This funding will support the development of a diagnostic tool aimed at selecting immuno-oncology treatments, utilizing Erisyon’s proprietary Fluorosequencing technology. The initiative is a collaborative effort with MD Anderson Cancer Center and focuses on a biomarker related to Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), which was developed at the Weizmann Institute.

Fluorosequencing is an advanced high-throughput, massively parallel approach to single-molecule proteomics, combining the advantages of next-generation DNA sequencing with protein analysis.

“This grant from CPRIT is a significant milestone for Erisyon and a testament to the potential of our Fluorosequencing technology to address unmet needs in cancer diagnostics. We are excited to collaborate with MD Anderson and the Weizmann Institute to bring this diagnostic to the clinic and improve patient outcomes.” – said Talli Somekh, CEO of Erisyon.

The technology is particularly suited for applications requiring high sensitivity, unbiased detection, and digital quantification. Immuno Checkpoint Inhibitor (ICI) therapies have transformed cancer treatment by enhancing the body’s natural ability to eliminate diseased cells, resulting in significant survival benefits and creating a lucrative market. However, there remains a lack of reliable diagnostics for treatment selection, as current tests are often qualitative or fail to provide insights into the cell’s proteomic dysregulation.

A recent publication in Nature Cancer by Prof. Yifat Merbl’s lab at the Weizmann Institute highlighted a biomarker named PSME4. Its overexpression in NSCLC leads to tumors characterized as “antigenic deserts,” necessitating more careful treatment selection.

The proteasome regulator PSME4 modulates proteasome activity and antigen diversity to abrogate antitumor immunity in NSCLC

Authors: Aaron Javitt et al.

Erisyon’s Fluorosequencing technology is ideally positioned to tackle the challenges associated with bringing the PSME4 biomarker into clinical use due to its sensitivity, dynamic range, and quantitative accuracy.

Over the next two years, Erisyon will work alongside Prof. Jianjun Zhang from MD Anderson’s Moon Shot GEMINI program to develop and implement Fluorosequencing for measuring PSME4 levels in patient samples.

About Erisyon

Erisyon is a leading provider of single-molecule proteomics technology. Its Fluorosequencing platform brings the benefits of next-generation DNA sequencing to proteins, offering the ultimate sensitivity of a single molecule, massively parallel experimentation with billions of reads, and absolute quantification of proteins in a sample with digital counts of molecules. Erisyon is headquartered in Houston, TX.

About CPRIT

Created by the Texas Legislature and approved by a statewide vote in 2007, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) leads the Lone Star State’s fight against cancer. In 2019, Texas voters again voted overwhelmingly to support CPRIT with an additional $3 billion, for a total $6 billion investment in cancer research and prevention.

To date, the agency has awarded more than $3.7 billion in grants to Texas research institutions and organizations through its academic research, prevention, and product development research programs. CPRIT has also recruited 324 distinguished researchers to Texas, supported the establishment, expansion, or relocation of 74 companies to Texas, and supported 10.1 million prevention services reaching all 254 counties in Texas.