Historical Timeline

Translating a world-leading platform technology into commercialized precision medicine tests

OBD, now a public AIM-listed company with global reach, was spun out from Oxford University in 2007 with the aim of translating fundamental scientific advances in 3D Genomics into a new generation of commercialized blood tests for life-changing diseases, including delivering both EpiSwitch CiRT, EpiSwitch PSE and EpiSwitch CST into the hands of doctors.

2007

June 2007

OBD spun-out from Oxford University by Dr. Akoulitchev and Dr. Ramadass to translate breakthrough scientific advances into a commercialized platform technology.

2016

December 2016

IPO: OBD listed on The London Stock Exchange (AIM: OBD) after raising £20M from investors.

2018

September 2018

Consortium including OBD receives €4M Horizon 2020 award

2019

March 2019

EpiSwitch platform selected for Prostate Cancer trial led by Imperial College London – PROSTAGRAM – evaluating novel methods of screening for prostate cancer.

April 2019

OBD receives Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

2020

March 2020

Nationwide COVID-19 lockdown begins in the UK.

October 2020

EpiSwitch COVID-19 disease severity program launches with international partners Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Boca Biolistics, laying the foundations for EpiSwitch CST by building a leading 3D genomic knowledgebase from 500+ world-wide patient samples.

December 2020

OBD announces expanded strategic focus beyond biomarker discovery to the development and commercialization of life-changing clinical tests, bringing its technology pipeline rapidly into the precision medicine market.

2021

March 2021

EpiSwitch CST launched in the US, an advanced blood test for understanding an individual’s risk of severe illness due to COVID-19.

EpiSwitch Explorer Array Kit launched for R&D use to enable a new level of 3D genome-wide screening, facilitated with a supply and resale partnership with Agilent^® Technologies.

September 2021

OBD moves into a new 24,000 sq ft tailor-made facility in Oxford with state-of-the-art lab space to support ongoing growth and the expanded strategic focus.

2022

February 2022

EpiSwitch CiRT launched in the US, a transformative first-of-its-kind blood test providing guidance on whether to begin or continue treatment with an essential, widely used class of therapies: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.

June 2022

EpiSwitch CiRT now available in the UK to private physicians considering ICI therapy for their patients.

September 2022

ESMO 2022 podium presentation by Barts Cancer Centre, Pfizer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute et al., highlights unique benefit of the EpiSwitch Platform in predicting treatment response to Pfizer’s avelumab, a leading immune checkpoint inhibitor.

October 2022

New US reimbursement PLA code issued for EpiSwitch CiRT for all requests for insurance reimbursement, whether from Medicare, Medicaid or private payors.