UCD spin-out acquired by US molecular diagnostics company

University College Dublin formally announced the acquisition of OncoMark Ltd, a UCD spin-out company, by Cepheid Inc., a US molecular diagnostics company. The transaction was completed in March for an undisclosed sum.

OncoMark was co-founded by Conway Fellow, Professor William Gallagher and Steve Penney as a spin-out from the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science and the UCD Conway Institute, and was based at NovaUCD, the University’s Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs.

The company developed a novel test for early-stage breast cancer (OncoMasTR) that has the potential to reduce the number of breast cancer patients receiving unnecessary chemotherapy. The test was CE Marked in preparation for launch in EU markets. With the acquisition of OncoMark by Cepheid, the test will now be launched on Cepheid’s world-leading GeneXpert Platform in global markets.

The OncoMasTR test is based on a panel of genetic 'drivers' of breast cancer. The original research that resulted in the identification of the panel was led by Professor Adrian Bracken, Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin and involved researchers at the UCD Conway Institute, led by Professor William Gallagher. The OncoMasTR technology was subsequently exclusively licenced by both universities to OncoMark.

Following the sale of OncoMark, a new company, OncoAssure was established by former OncoMark senior management, with all former OncoMark staff moving across to OncoAssure to continue the development of biomarkers in other cancers, outside of breast cancer. OncoAssure is headquartered at NovaUCD.

Des O’Leary, former OncoMark CEO, and now OncoAssure CEO said, “I am very pleased that the novel OncoMasTR test developed by OncoMark will be brought to the clinic and commercialised by Cepheid, a world-leading molecular diagnostic company. This will ensure that patients world-wide will be able to reap the considerable benefits of the test.”

Scott Campbell, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Oncology at Cepheid, said, “A GeneXpert version of the OncoMasTR test is a very important part of our portfolio plan for breast cancer diagnostics and it has been a pleasure working with Des and the former OncoMark team on this programme.”

Des O’Leary added, “Furthermore, with the establishment of OncoAssure, the former OncoMark team, using a very similar approach, are now working on the development of biomarkers to address significant unmet needs in other cancers. The lead product in this pipeline is a test for prostate cancer that will help clinicians identify those patients that can safely opt for active surveillance, rather than aggressive treatment.”

Professor William Gallagher, Professor of Cancer Biology, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, former Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at OncoMark and currently OncoAssure CSO said,
“I am delighted to see the ongoing translation of OncoMasTR towards the clinic via Cepheid’s innovative GeneXpert platform. The underpinning OncoMasTR technology originated from a fantastic collaboration between Professor Adrian Bracken’s team based at Trinity College Dublin whose focus on fundamental aspects of cancer cell biology dovetailed very nicely with our interests in translational cancer research at UCD.”

Tom Flanagan, UCD Director of Enterprise and Commercialisation, NovaUCD said, "I would like to congratulate OncoMark's founders, senior management team and indeed the entire OncoMark team, following today's announcement that Cepheid Inc. has acquired the UCD spin-out company. OncoMark is an excellent example of the quality of the spin-outs which have emerged from UCD and we have been delighted to support the company to develop and grow over the last number of years."

He added, "I would especially like to commend the entrepreneurial spirit and mindset of OncoMark's founders and management team in immediately establishing a new company, OncoAssure. The company, based at NovaUCD, is focused on developing a new panel of biomarkers for a prostate cancer test and we look forward to working with the team in the years ahead to support them to reach their global ambitions."

Prior to its acquisition OncoMark had secured funding from several investors including, Kernel Capital, through the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Venture Funds, the Irrus Investments syndicate, the Galway HBAN MedTech syndicate, private investors and Enterprise Ireland. Additional funding was also secured by the company in 2016 through a Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 2 Award.