EDGC Receives Minister of SMEs and Startups Award

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] EDGC (Eoneun Diagnostics), a precision medicine company specializing in genome analysis, announced that it received the Minister of SMEs and Startups Award at the '2022 New Industry Startup Tech-Expo.'

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups selects promising startups in innovative fields such as system semiconductors, biohealth, and future cars since 2020, providing support for commercialization funds, growth support, and overseas investment attraction for three years. The New Industry Startup Tech-Expo is an event to present the achievements of the first batch of companies selected in 2020.

EDGC has been selected as an innovative growth company in the Big 3 biohealth sectors for three consecutive years with its liquid biopsy technology using cell-free DNA in blood. It received the ministerial award as a representative company in the biohealth field.

EDGC's liquid biopsy technology, 'OncoCatch,' can detect extremely small amounts of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) derived from cancer cells among cell-free DNA (cfDNA) present in the blood. It enables measurement of methylation patterns, an epigenetic change related to cancer occurrence. By applying artificial intelligence algorithms, it can diagnose cancer onset at a very early stage.

It developed a proprietary technology that analyzes DNA methylation using restriction enzyme methods for the first time in the world. The technology has been registered as a domestic patent.

EDGC CEO Minseop Lee said, "With liquid biopsy technology, we were selected as an innovative growth company in the 'Innovative Companies National Representative 1000' last month," adding, "Based on the excellent technology of OncoCatch developed with government support, we plan to accelerate our overseas market penetration so that K-Bio can be recognized in international markets."