Tagomics has launched a cell-free DNA platform designed to monitor treatment-related organ toxicity across preclinical studies and clinical drug development.

Platform uses blood samples to identify tissue injury

The LiquiPath platform uses cell-free DNA and tissue-specific methylation data to trace circulating DNA back to its tissue of origin.

The Cambridge-based company said the technology is designed to provide multi-organ monitoring from a single blood sample, potentially allowing drug developers to identify treatment-related adverse effects earlier in the development process.

LiquiPath combines Tagomics’ Activace epigenetic technology with proprietary cell-type-specific methylation atlases and deconvolution algorithms to identify the tissues contributing cell-free DNA circulating in the blood.

The platform is being developed for use across preclinical studies, clinical development and post-market safety monitoring.

Drug-induced toxicity remains a challenge during drug development, with conventional safety monitoring relying on biomarkers, imaging and clinical symptoms that can indicate organ injury after it has occurred.

Tagomics said LiquiPath is intended to provide additional information about the location and nature of potential tissue injury, supporting earlier assessment of safety risks.

Drug developers invited to early access programme

In preclinical development, the platform is designed to support toxicity assessment and risk stratification across multiple species and organs.

Tagomics said the technology could also support the evaluation of treatment-related toxicity during clinical development by providing information on subclinical organ injury and potentially helping identify patients at increased risk of adverse effects.

However, the company has not disclosed clinical performance data for LiquiPath in the announcement, so its ability to detect toxicity earlier than established monitoring methods remains a development objective.

LiquiPath is being developed through projects with pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca, across multiple therapeutic modalities and stages of drug development.

Tagomics has now opened an early access programme for additional drug developers. The programme will involve collaboration on priority applications, validation studies and potential future capabilities for the platform.

Dr Jack Kennefick, CEO and co-founder of Tagomics, said: “Drug safety monitoring has remained largely unchanged for decades, with many current tools detecting damage only after it has occurred. LiquiPath is designed to bring drug safety monitoring into the era of precision medicine, aiming to transform how toxicity is detected and understood across the drug development lifecycle.”

He added: “By reading tissue-specific cell-free DNA signals in blood, we believe the platform can help drug developers detect toxicity earlier and understand where injury is occurring.”

Expanding cfDNA technology beyond cancer

The LiquiPath launch also expands Tagomics’ use of its epigenetic technology beyond its existing focus on cancer detection.

The company’s approach uses differences in DNA methylation between cell and tissue types to determine the likely origin of cell-free DNA found in blood.

Cell-free DNA is released into the bloodstream as cells die and can provide information about biological changes occurring in different tissues. The ability to identify its tissue of origin is being investigated as a way of developing blood-based biomarkers for disease and treatment monitoring.

For drug developers, a multi-organ approach could be relevant where a treatment has the potential to affect several tissues or where conventional monitoring does not provide sufficient information about the location of an adverse effect.

The early access programme will allow Tagomics to work with additional pharmaceutical companies to assess potential applications and generate further evidence for LiquiPath across the drug development lifecycle.