What is Epistem and what does the company do?

Updated

Epistem is a contract research organisation (CRO) that supports drug discovery, development and the early clinical pipeline. It provides preclinical in vitro and in vivo models, analytical platforms and GCLP-accredited laboratory services, with a stated focus on oncology, inflammatory diseases and gastrointestinal disease (including GI toxicities). It is relevant to you if you are a pharmaceutical or biotechnology team that needs external experimental capacity, disease-relevant models or clinical-trial sample analysis rather than a full drug-development partner.

What Epistem offers

The company describes its role as supplying "reliable, innovative, and transferable models, platforms and services to support decision making" across discovery, development and early clinical work. Its services fall into three broad groups.

Preclinical research models

These are experimental systems used to study disease biology or test candidate compounds before clinical trials:

  • Inflammatory bowel disease
  • Organoids (for modelling complex physiological systems and diseases)
  • Dermatology
  • Oncology
  • Immune cell assays
  • Biodefence
  • GI toxicity and mucositis

The preclinical portfolio covers both in vitro and in vivo models, so it can support early target work as well as later preclinical testing.

Laboratory and analytical services

These support both preclinical studies and clinical trials:

  • RNAscope
  • High-throughput PCR
  • Next-generation sequencing
  • Histology and immunohistochemistry
  • Plucked hair biomarker platform
  • Disease and pathway panels
  • Bioinformatics
  • qPCR and microarray analysis
  • Gene expression analysis
  • Multiplexed cytokine profiling
  • Laser capture microdissection
  • Flow cytometry
  • Imaging

The GCLP-accredited laboratories provide histology, IHC, image analysis, gene expression and DNA genotyping for clinical trials. GCLP accreditation matters if your samples come from patients and must meet regulatory expectations for clinical laboratory work.

Who it is for

Epistem states it has worked with more than 200 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. That track record is the main signal for fit: it suggests experience with external clients and varied project types, though it does not by itself guarantee capacity or turnaround for your specific study.

The company also emphasises custom protocols and personalised services, so it is positioned for teams with non-standard requirements rather than only off-the-shelf assays. A client testimonial on the site describes support for "unusual requests" and on-study and post-study support, which points to a project-based working style.

How to decide whether to contact them

Use the following as a practical checklist:

  1. Match your disease area. If your work is in oncology, inflammatory disease or GI disease (including GI toxicity), the listed models are directly relevant. For other areas, ask whether the organoid or assay platforms can be adapted.
  2. Check the stage. Preclinical model work and clinical-trial sample analysis are both covered, so the same provider may serve multiple stages. Confirm which services are GCLP-accredited if your samples are clinical.
  3. Identify the specific assay. The service list is granular (for example, RNAscope versus high-throughput PCR versus NGS). Naming the technique you need makes an initial enquiry more productive.
  4. Ask about customisation. Since custom protocols are a stated strength, describe any non-standard endpoints or sample types early.
  5. Request evidence for your use case. Ask for relevant project experience or example data in your disease area rather than relying on the general track record.

Pricing, turnaround times and contractual terms are not stated on the homepage, so these need to be confirmed directly with the company.

Key takeaway

Epistem is a preclinical and clinical-stage CRO with a disease focus on oncology, inflammation and GI conditions, plus a broad analytical and histology service line backed by GCLP-accredited laboratories. It is a reasonable starting point for drug developers who need disease-relevant models or clinical sample analysis, particularly where standard assays do not fit and a custom protocol is required.