OncoMethylome of Belgium mulls IPO to develop cancer biomarker diagnostics

OncoMethylome Sciences SA, is planning to raise funds via an initial public offering and dual listing on the Euronext exchange in Brussels and Amsterdam. Herman Spolders, CEO, said the company intends to use the money to expand its product pipeline and for other corporate purposes.

OncoMethylome’s diagnostics can detect cancer at an early stage and predict a patient's response to particular cancer drugs.

The tests work by identifying DNA gene methylation patterns, which are correlated with the development of cancer. Gene methylation is a natural process that regulates which proteins are produced in different parts of the body. When cancer occurs, genes become abnormally methylated. The company uses a patented technology that can identify this abnormal methylation in just a few cells among a background of other cells.

The underlying idea behind the test was originally developed by Johns Hopkins University in the US.  

The company has two products at a late stage of clinical development that are expected  to on the market in two to three years, according to Spolders. One is a urine test to screen for early signs of prostate cancer. The second test, developed with US pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough, identifies patients who will respond to Schering-Plough's brain cancer drug Temodal.

Other products in the pipeline include tests for major solid tumours including bladder, breast, colon and lung.

The company, which was launched in 2003, has raised around €29 million in rounds of venture capital funding from Dutch Life Science Partners, ING Belgium and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners.

OncoMethylome had revenues of about €3million last year, and incurred a net loss of €4.9 million, according to Spolders. It has around 50 employees and three laboratories, at Liege and Leuven in Belgium and in Amsterdam, along with a US unit that focuses on business development.

R&D team, based in Amsterdam, works closely with several Dutch cancer research institutes, including the Amsterdam Free University Medical Centre, the GROW institute at the University Hospital of Maastricht, and the University Hospital in Groningen.

Fortis and ING have been hired as the lead managers for the IPO plan.