epistem.co.uk

Epistem offers preclinical research models in seven areas listed on its website: inflammatory bowel disease, organoids, dermatology, oncology, immune cell assays, biodefence, and GI toxicity and mucositis. These sit alongside its service lines (histology and immunohistochemistry, RNAscope, PCR and sequencing, bioinformatics and others) and analytical platforms. The company positions the models as "reliable, innovative, and transferable" and as decision-support tools across drug discovery, development and the early clinical pipeline. If your programme falls in oncology, inflammatory disease or gastrointestinal disease, the model list is likely to cover your needs; if it falls outside those areas, the site gives no indication of coverage, so confirm directly before planning work.

The seven research model areas

The site describes the preclinical portfolio as covering both in vitro and in vivo models, with a focus on oncology and inflammatory diseases and "extensive experience in the gastrointestinal disease area, including GI toxicities."

How the models are positioned

Epistem frames its models, platforms and services as supporting decision-making "throughout the drug discovery, development, and early clinical pipeline." Two implications follow:

• Transferability is the stated selling point. The company claims its models are transferable, which matters if you need results from a model to inform later-stage decisions rather than stand alone as a single experiment.
• Models connect to a wider service chain. Because histology, immunohistochemistry, image analysis, gene expression, RNAscope, PCR, sequencing and bioinformatics are offered in-house, a model study can be paired with the readouts needed to interpret it. The site also notes GCLP-accredited laboratories supporting clinical trials, which is relevant if a programme is moving from preclinical into early clinical work.

What to check before enquiring

The homepage lists model areas but not the specific strains, endpoints, throughput or turnaround for each. Before committing:

1. Match your disease area to the list. Oncology, IBD, dermatology, GI toxicity/mucositis, immune cell assays, organoids and biodefence are named; anything else needs confirmation.
2. Ask which model within an area fits your question. "Oncology" spans many model types, and the site does not enumerate them.
3. Confirm the readout package. Decide whether you need the model alone or combined with histology, gene expression or bioinformatics services, and ask how those are scoped together.
4. Check the accreditation relevance. If your study will support a clinical trial, ask specifically about the GCLP-accredited laboratory services.

The site cites a track record with over 200 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and includes a testimonial praising on-study and post-study support, which suggests custom protocols and tailored service are part of the offer. Pricing is not published, so cost and contracting terms need to come from a direct enquiry.

Epistem is a preclinical and clinical research services provider based in the UK that works across oncology, inflammatory disease, gastrointestinal disease (including GI toxicity), dermatology and biodefence, and it also runs GCLP-accredited laboratories supporting clinical trials. It is a plausible fit if your programme needs in vitro or in vivo disease models, organoids, or histology, immunohistochemistry, image analysis, gene expression and DNA genotyping work, and if you want protocols tailored to your study rather than a fixed catalogue. It is a weaker fit if you need a full-service CRO covering clinical operations, regulatory filing or manufacturing, since the site describes laboratory and analytical services rather than those functions. The practical way to decide is to map your therapeutic area and required readouts to the listed models and platforms, confirm accreditation and technique fit, then open a scoping conversation about your research goals.

Step 1: Match your therapeutic area to the research models

The site lists research models by disease area. Use this as a first filter before any technical discussion.

If your area is not on this list, that is not an automatic no — the site emphasises custom protocols — but treat it as a question to raise rather than an assumption.

Step 2: Check accreditation and platform fit

Two things matter here: whether the lab accreditation matches the stage of your study, and whether the specific technique you need is offered.

Accreditation. The site states its laboratories are GCLP-accredited and support clinical trials. GCLP (Good Clinical Laboratory Practice) is the relevant standard when your samples come from trial participants and the data may feed a regulatory submission. If your work is purely discovery-stage, this is less critical; if you are generating biomarker data from patients, ask directly which assays sit under the accredited scope, because accreditation usually applies to defined tests rather than the whole laboratory.

Platforms. The listed analytical platforms are multiplexed cytokine profiling, laser capture microdissection, flow cytometry and imaging. The listed services are RNAscope, high-throughput PCR, next-generation sequencing, histology and immunohistochemistry, the plucked hair biomarker platform, disease and pathway panels, bioinformatics, qPCR and microarray analysis, and gene expression analysis.

Build a short list of the readouts your programme actually needs and check each against this list. For example, if your endpoint is spatial gene expression in fixed tumour tissue, RNAscope plus imaging plus laser capture microdissection is a coherent combination to ask about in one conversation. If your endpoint is a circulating protein signature, multiplexed cytokine profiling is the relevant platform. Asking about techniques that are not listed is reasonable, but expect to hear whether they are in scope or handled through a partner.

Step 3: Test the custom-protocol and personalised-service claim

The site is explicit that the team delivers custom protocols and personalised services tailored to client needs, and that it has worked with more than 200 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. A client testimonial on the homepage praises professionalism and on-study and post-study support, including accommodation of unusual requests.

Treat these as claims to verify with your own study, not as guarantees. A useful test is to describe one concrete, slightly non-standard requirement — a bespoke dosing schedule, an unusual tissue collection window, a non-routine endpoint — and observe whether the response is a specific proposed design or a generic brochure reply. The former is evidence of the tailoring the site describes; the latter suggests you will be fitted to an existing protocol.

Step 4: Use the contact route to scope your study

The site's stated next step is to contact the team to discuss research goals and how they can help you achieve them. There is no published price list or self-service booking on the page, so budgeting and timelines have to come from that conversation.

Prepare a short brief before you make contact:

• Therapeutic area and indication, matched to the model list above.
• Stage: discovery, preclinical or clinical-trial sample analysis — this determines whether GCLP scope matters.
• Required readouts, named against the services and platforms list.
• Sample or animal numbers and your timeline.
• Any non-standard element, so you can test the custom-protocol claim.
• Questions on data handover: raw data, analysis outputs and bioinformatics support.

Ask in the same exchange about accreditation scope for your specific assays, expected turnaround, and how custom work is priced and scoped. Those answers, more than the homepage copy, will tell you whether Epistem fits your programme.

When Epistem is likely the right partner

• Your work sits in oncology, inflammation, GI disease or dermatology, or needs organoid or immune cell models.
• You need histology, IHC, image analysis, gene expression, genotyping or the listed molecular platforms, either standalone or alongside model work.
• You have clinical-trial samples requiring GCLP-accredited laboratory analysis.
• Your study has non-standard elements and you want a provider that builds protocols around them.

When to look elsewhere

• You need clinical trial operations, regulatory strategy or manufacturing, which the site does not describe.
• Your therapeutic area falls well outside the listed models and you cannot confirm coverage.
• You need published, self-service pricing before any conversation — nothing on the page supports that expectation.
• You need a single vendor to own the entire programme end to end rather than specialist laboratory and model services.

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.

Epistem provides laboratory and analytical services across two settings: GCLP-accredited clinical trial support (histology, immunohistochemistry, image analysis, gene expression and DNA genotyping) and preclinical research services built around in vitro and in vivo models, organoids, and a range of molecular and imaging platforms. The services suit drug discovery, development and early clinical teams that need biomarker, pathology or gene-expression data to support decisions, particularly in oncology, inflammatory disease and gastrointestinal disease including GI toxicity.

Clinical Trial and GCLP-Accredited Laboratory Services

Epistem's GCLP-accredited laboratories support clinical trials with:

• Histology and immunohistochemistry (IHC) — tissue preparation and staining for pathological assessment.
• Image analysis — quantitative interpretation of stained or imaged samples.
• Gene expression analysis — measurement of gene activity in clinical samples.
• DNA genotyping — genetic characterisation of samples.

These are relevant when a trial protocol requires validated, accredited laboratory readouts rather than exploratory research data. If your study needs GCLP-compliant pathology or molecular endpoints, this is the part of the offering to discuss first.

Molecular and Genomic Services

The services list includes a broad molecular toolkit:

The combination matters: a project can move from sample preparation through RNAscope or PCR, into NGS, and then into bioinformatics support without handing data between separate providers.

Biomarker and Analytical Platforms

Epistem lists several platforms aimed at biomarker work:

• Plucked hair biomarker platform — a less-invasive sample route for biomarker measurement; worth asking about directly if repeated sampling is a constraint in your study design.
• Multiplexed cytokine profiling — measuring multiple cytokines per sample, useful in inflammatory and immune-focused work.
• Laser capture microdissection — isolating specific cell populations from heterogeneous tissue before downstream analysis.
• Flow cytometry — cell-level phenotyping and counting.
• Imaging — visual and quantitative readouts supporting pathology and spatial biology.

For inflammatory disease programmes, multiplexed cytokine profiling and flow cytometry are the natural entry points; for tissue heterogeneity questions, laser capture microdissection paired with RNAscope or NGS is the more relevant combination.

Research Models That Feed These Services

The laboratory services sit alongside preclinical models that generate the samples in the first place:

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

Because Epistem runs both the models and the analytical readouts, a programme can be designed so that samples from an in vivo or organoid study flow directly into histology, IHC, image analysis or gene expression work. That continuity is the practical advantage to check when scoping a project.

How to Decide Whether Epistem Fits

Use these conditions to judge fit:

• Choose Epistem for clinical-trial laboratory work if you need GCLP-accredited histology, IHC, image analysis, gene expression or genotyping — accreditation is the deciding factor.
• Choose Epistem for preclinical programmes in oncology, inflammatory disease or GI disease where you want models and analytical readouts from one provider.
• Ask specifically about the plucked hair biomarker platform if your study needs minimally invasive, repeatable biomarker sampling.
• Confirm scope early if your work falls outside oncology, inflammation or GI — the published focus is concentrated there, and custom protocols are offered, so fit should be verified rather than assumed.

Epistem states it has worked with over 200 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and offers custom protocols and personalised services. Pricing and access terms are not published on the homepage, so commercial details need to be requested through direct contact.