CAMH Signs Exclusive Technology License Agreement with Epigenomics AG

Toronto, ON, December 13, 2006 – The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is extremely pleased to announce an exclusive license agreement with Epigenomics AG. This agreement is for a large-scale epigenomic profiling system developed by CAMH scientists under the direction of Dr. Arturas Petronis. This technology can help identify what causes complex diseases and open new avenues for developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Epigenomics AG, headquartered in Berlin, Germany, will use this technology to primarily address diagnostic questions in cancer. But other applications are possible, such as identifying molecular changes in schizophrenia, asthma, multiple sclerosis and other complex diseases (the approximately 98% of diseases caused by multiple predisposing genes). CAMH submitted a number of innovative ideas developed in this novel system to the international patent office for protection of intellectual property.

“This profiling system will help to identify what causes a disease”, said Dr. Petronis, “Many diseases are like a black box. We don’t know what starts the disease process. This technology will help us find the primary cause of a disease.” At CAMH the profiling system is now being used in the research of epigenetic defects in individuals with psychiatric disorders.

The epigenetic profiling technology now enables scientists to scan millions of nucleotides (chemical compounds that are the structural units of DNA) for DNA methylation (small chemical groups added to some nucleotides) in one experiment and do thousands and thousands of comparisons to identify defects in epigenetic regulation. Until recently, researchers had limited experimental approaches, which held back testing of the epigenetic theory of complex disease. This epigenomic profiling system is a tool that will advance this field of research.

"With the license from CAMH, we have secured exclusive rights to another advanced technology for the identification of DNA methylation based biomarkers," said Kurt Berlin, the CSO of Epigenomics. "This epigenetic profiling method based on DNA microarrays is technically superior to other known methods and complementary to the ones we currently employ. Epigenomics is committed to always provide the most advanced technologies to the customers of our biomarker service and collaboration businesses."

“This license agreement, with a biotechnology company that is a world leader in the field of epigenetic research, is an example of a business transaction that will maximize the reach and impact of CAMH research,” Dr. Petronis added.

Epigenetics is a branch of molecular biology investigating factors that make the activities of the genome (hereditary information encoded in DNA) happen. Epigenetic research shows us that regulation of gene activity is critically important for normal functioning of the genome. Misregulated genes may be a primary cause of common diseases such as schizophrenia, diabetes, asthma, cancer, and multiple sclerosis, among numerous others. Epigenetics adds a regulatory component to genetics research, to help scientists gather a full picture of diseases facilitating the development of improved diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is one of the largest addiction and mental health organizations in North America and Canada's leading mental health and addiction teaching hospital. CAMH is a Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization Collaborating Centre, and is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. CAMH combines clinical care, research, policy, education and health promotion to improve the lives of people impacted by mental health and addiction issues.

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