Molquant, Inc.

New Technology Drives a new field Recent technology breakthroughs in DNA sequencing have led to the generation of a massive amount of human genomics data. Somewhere in these data are the keys to the next drug target or the next diagnostic assay, however, the field is just beginning to develop the tools and expertise to make sense of the avalanche of data. Molquant's biological interpretation niche At Molquant, we have developed a proprietary approach that functionally annotates the genome, linking genomics information to biology. This approach is distinct from the many companies that "interpret" the genome by developing better sequence calling algorithms. Molquant's algorithms are applied downstream of the output of sequence interpretation companies, and provide biological insight to sequence variation. Our website provides several examples of the power of this approach: Analysis of Parkinson's Disease loci indicates that many Parkinson's Disease genes are linked to intracellular transport of organelles such as mitochondria within the long axons of neurons http://molquant.com/parkinsons-disease-gene-networks. Analysis of cardiovascular disease risk loci identifies vascular smooth muscle cell biology, including an ancient cell size sensing network emerging as novel biological mechanism at play in heart disease http://molquant.com/sarcomere-network-in-cardiac-hypertrophy Early Cancer Detection Assay Molquant technology also enables the genomic annotation of human tumors, and led us to develop a comprehensive set of concise and distinct gene signatures for more than 10 types of human cancers. For many cancers, early detection saves lives. While colonoscopy and lung imaging are widely accepted diagnostic tools for colorectal and lung cancers, most tumor types in which early diagnosis may be life saving lack early diagnostic tools (ovarian, kidney, pancreatic, endometrial). We are currently testing our molecular signatures in validation studies to assess the the sensitivity and specificity of tumor detection from a simple blood draw. If successful in any of these tumor settings, we believe these assays may transform the management of these cancers, and may have a huge impact on the morbidity and mortality of this disease.