Research published in Communications Biology demonstrates potential of Company’s active chromatin platform to inform personalized treatment approaches across multiple disease states

Aqtual, Inc., a precision medicine company with a novel active chromatin cell-free DNA (cfDNAac) platform to develop products for chronic diseases and oncology, announced research in Communications Biology, a Nature portfolio journal. The research demonstrates the potential of Aqtual’s proprietary platform that evaluates gene regulation, epigenetics, and transcriptomics by analyzing previously unexplored cfDNA fragments found in blood, opening the door to new clinical applications in almost every major disease area.

cfDNA has become pivotal in precision medicine by changing the diagnostic and therapeutic landscape. However, cfDNA platforms have largely been limited to applications in non-invasive prenatal testing, cancer diagnostics and monitoring organ transplantation because they are unable to capture the full range of molecular complexity involved in other disease states.

In contrast, this research showed Aqtual’s platform has the potential to expand the clinical utility of cfDNA beyond these areas. By capturing active chromatin fragments (sections of DNA that are associated with regions of the genome where genes are actively being expressed) that reflect gene regulation and molecular changes in real-time, the platform can uncover new biomarkers relevant to a broader range of disease states.

“The simple modification of DNA isolation techniques from plasma samples, allowing for enrichment of longer DNA fragments derived from actively transcribed regions, is a major advancement in the cell-free DNA field,” said Clifford Lowell, MD, PhD, Distinguished Professor and Chair at the University of California, San Francisco, Dept. of Laboratory Medicine. “This cell-free DNA sequencing assay can follow the normal circadian rhythm of immune cell gene expression, offering a novel and straightforward method to monitor gene expression profiles in immune and potentially non-immune mediated disease states. It will be exciting to see how this new tool is applied.”

Aqtual’s platform provides insights into how genes are controlled and expressed by analyzing DNA fragments from a single blood sample. This approach may enable physicians to diagnose diseases earlier and tailor treatments to individual patients. The ability to monitor gene activity without the need for an invasive procedure opens up a wide range of possibilities for better managing various conditions, including chronic diseases, autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and infectious diseases.

"The potential of Aqtual’s platform is vast. For example, globally, 2.6 billion people suffer from some form of chronic disease, with 1 in 3 living with more than one chronic condition,” said Diana Abdueva, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Aqtual and co-author of the study. “The challenge with managing chronic diseases is that treatment is often trial and error, leading to inefficiencies and poor patient outcomes. In the U.S. alone, 90% of all healthcare spending—over $3.6 trillion—is dedicated to chronic diseases. We believe Aqtual’s platform has the potential to shift this paradigm."

Aqtual’s initial focus is developing a blood test to guide therapy management for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). RA is a highly debilitating chronic inflammatory disease affecting 1.3 million Americans.1 With more than 20 FDA-approved drugs across six drug classes, many patients try at least two or three different therapies before finding one that works for them.2 It is estimated that annual healthcare costs of RA patients in the United States total more than $19B, not including intangible costs like quality of life, premature mortality, and societal costs.3 Patients living with RA are often on expensive therapeutics for years and often fail to respond to a prescribed treatment; in which case the guidelines recommend switching therapy.

"For conditions like RA, there’s a clear opportunity to optimize therapy selection and avoid the wasteful spending associated with ineffective immunotherapy assignments,” continued Dr. Abdueva.“By providing clinicians with a more precise, data-driven approach to treatment, Aqtual’s platform could help ensure patients receive the right therapy sooner, improving both outcomes and cost-efficiency."

About Aqtual, Inc.

Aqtual, Inc. is a precision medicine company developing products for chronic disease management and oncology utilizing a novel cell-free DNA-based platform. Aqtual’s proprietary platform evaluates protein regulation, epigenetics, and transcriptomics solely using cell-free DNA fragments found in the blood. The platform yields efficient and robust real-time analysis of disease and treatment while overcoming the limitations of previous cell-free DNA methodologies.

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1 Xu Y, Wu Q. Prevalence Trend and Disparities in Rheumatoid Arthritis among US Adults, 2005-2018. J Clin Med. 2021 Jul 26;10(15):3289. doi: 10.3390/jcm10153289. PMID: 34362073; PMCID: PMC8348893.

2 Lauper K, Iudici M, Mongin D, Bergstra SA, Choquette D, Codreanu C, Cordtz R, De Cock D, Dreyer L, Elkayam O, Hauge EM, Huschek D, Hyrich KL, Iannone F, Inanc N, Kearsley-Fleet L, Kristianslund EK, Kvien TK, Leeb BF, Lukina G, Nordstr�m DC, Pavelka K, Pombo-Suarez M, Rotar Z, Santos MJ, Strangfeld A, Verschueren P, Courvoisier DS, Finckh A. Effectiveness of TNF-inhibitors, abatacept, IL6-inhibitors and JAK-inhibitors in 31 846 patients with rheumatoid arthritis in 19 registers from the 'JAK-pot' collaboration. Ann Rheum Dis. 2022 Oct;81(10):1358-1366. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2022-222586. Epub 2022 Jun 15. PMID: 35705376; PMCID: PMC9484385.

3 Birnbaum H, Pike C, Kaufman R, Marynchenko M, Kidolezi Y, Cifaldi M. Societal cost of rheumatoid arthritis patients in the US. Curr Med Res Opin. 2010 Jan;26(1):77-90. doi: 10.1185/03007990903422307. PMID: 19908947.

Rachel Ford Hutman 301-801-5540 Rachel@fordhutmanmedia.com