Epizyme, a biotech company based in Cambridge, MA, that specializes in drugs targeting histone methyltransferases in cancer, has filed for an initial public offering of stock.

Epizyme, a biotech company based in Cambridge, MA, that specializes in drugs targeting epigenetic processes in cancer, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in April for an initial public offering of stock. The company hopes to quickly develop its two leading drug candidates and to build a pipeline of similar drugs, all focusing on personalized treatments of cancers.

Four epigenetic drugs are currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), targeting DNA methyltransferases and histone deacetylases. Epizyme focuses instead on a group of enzymes called histone methyltransferases (HMT) that are abnormally expressed in many cancers.

Epizyme is the first company to take chemical inhibitors that target HMTs into clinical trials. In September 2012, the company launched a phase I clinical trial of EPZ-5676, an inhibitor targeting the DOT1L HMT, to treat mixed-lineage rearranged leukemia, a subtype of acute leukemia. By midyear, the company expects to begin a phase I/II clinical trial of another drug, EPZ-6438, which targets the EZH2 HMT, to treat a subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

In its SEC filing, Epizyme says it has a pipeline of HMT inhibitors in preclinical development and has prioritized 20 potential targets out of 96 known HMTs.

Marianna Tcherpakov, PhD, a market analyst for BCC Research of Wellesley, MA, says that Epizyme has built a strong record since its founding in 2007 and has emerged as a leader in HMT drug discovery.

One key, she says, is its scientific leadership. Yi Zhang, PhD, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who pioneered research into DOT1L and other HMTs, and Robert Horvitz, PhD, Nobel laureate and professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, cofounded Epizyme. “Such impressive scientific founders gave this company real credibility regarding its scientific data,” Tcherpakov comments.

Additionally, she notes, Epizyme has signed major and potentially very lucrative partnerships with drug companies Celgene, Eisai, and GlaxoSmithKline. The company has also won significant financial support from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

Tcherpakov also applauds Epizyme for its collaborations with Abbott and Roche Molecular Systems to develop molecular companion diagnostic tests for its products—tests that may help the therapies win FDA approval more quickly.

She cautions, however, that while the company has demonstrated efficacy of its drugs in animal models, it has yet to do so in humans.

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