31 July 2020 - - US-based Omega Therapeutics, a specialist in genomic medicine through epigenomic programming, has closed an USD 85m financing, the company said.

The funding will support progression to first-in-human clinical trials of the company's Epigenomic Controllers for programs in oncology, inflammation, autoimmune, metabolic, and rare genetic diseases.

Omega's epigenomic programming platform is focused on selectively directing the human genome to treat and cure disease by precisely controlling genomic expression without altering native nucleic acid sequences.

Omega has created a proprietary platform and knowledge base that identifies Insulated Genomic Domains and their biological functions in both healthy and diseased states across cell types.

IGDs naturally function as the fundamental regulators of the human genome and can be modulated to up- or down-regulate single or multiple genes simultaneously.

These scientific and product insights drive the discovery and development of disease-specific genomic modulators called Epigenomic Controllers, which are engineered to precisely tune genomic activity to desired therapeutic levels with high targeting specificity and durability of effect.

Omega Therapeutics is a genomic medicine company advancing novel engineered therapeutics, Omega's Epigenomic Controllers, enabling controllable epigenomic programming into clinical development for a range of indications.

These therapeutics deliver Precision Genomic Control by controlling Insulated Genomic Domains, the fundamental structural and functional units of genomic regulation, by modulating single and multiple gene expression through epigenomic programming.

IGDs encompass single or multiple genes and their associated regulatory elements, and are correlated with diverse diseases, including cancer, autoimmune, inflammatory, regenerative, metabolic, neurological conditions and rare diseases.

Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2017, with a long-term vision to create a programmable, epigenetic-based genomic medicine platform that would identify novel targets, as well as medicines, Omega's epigenomic programming platform has identified and mapped IGDs and their structure and function in both healthy and diseased states across cell types.