Heidelberg, Germany, January 22, 2025 Heidelberg Epignostix GmbH, a deeptech start-up committed to precision cancer diagnostics today announces the successful launch of their CNS and sarcoma tumor classifiers- marking a substantial milestone in driving market development for their flagship indication, CNS tumor classification, and expansion to additional applications.
Combining epigenetics with artificial intelligence-powered bioinformatics, their software algorithms enable precise cancer classification of subtypes that are otherwise difficult or impossible to distinguish. The technology is based on patterns of chemical tags on tumor DNA called DNA methylation functioning as fingerprints, and has been applied to more than 150,000 patient samples to date.

The company is addressing precision tumor classification due to the high need for improved diagnostic accuracy. Methylation-based tumor classification is already recommended by WHO guidelines as a precision classification tool for brain tumors, enabling enhanced clinical care for cancer patients.
Just six months after having secured seed financing for Heidelberg Epignostix, we are excited to report our first product launches. Thanks to a very robust technology platform, we expect to bring the Heidelberg Epignostix CNS Tumor Methylation Classifier as an approved diagnostic test to to market later this year.
Helge Lubenow, CEO
David Jones, co-founder and CSO adds: “We are creating a transformative portfolio for cancer diagnostics and while we were focusing on CNS tumors first, where a sizeable patient population and high relevance in childhood cancer have already led to rapid adoption, we are now also expanding into other tumor indications.”
Felix Sahm, co-founder and Head of Molecular Neuropathology at the Heidelberg University Hospital explains: “Proving utility of molecular classification beyond its initial application in brain tumors is a very significant milestone. Sarcomas are malignant soft tissue and bone tumors that represent a morphologically heterogenous set of tumors.” Andreas von Deimling, co-founder and Head of Neuropathology at the Heidelberg University Hospital adds: “Some entities lack defining histopathological features and therefore the diagnosis of sarcomas is burdened with high inter-observer variability and misclassification rate.”
About Heidelberg Epignostix GmbH:
Heidelberg Epignostix is a healthcare company whose mission is to transform cancer diagnostics through data science. The company has developed novel AI-based bioinformatics algorithms with utility in cancer classification that hold promise for improved accuracy in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapy management. The lead product, the Heidelberg Brain Tumor Classifier, is currently available as a research-use-only resource. Heidelberg Epignostix is located in Heidelberg, Germany. For more information visit www.epignostix.com.
For further inquiries:
Areeba Patel
Heidelberg Epignostix GmbH
Nikola-Tesla-Straße
69124 Heidelberg
Germany
Email: areeba.patel@epignostix.com
www.epignostix.com