Large crowd attends EDP BioTech open house, spotlight on colorectal awareness
A large crowd filled the reception area and several of the other work and lab spaces as EDP BioTech Corporation held an event to shine the spotlight on “Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month” as well as its progress in developing its early detection technology.
The local company, founded by Tom Boyd, opened the doors of its Baum Drive facility for tours and networking for about 90 minutes late Thursday afternoon ahead of a program spotlighting the importance of early detection.
As Eric Mayer noted in a recent teknovation.biz article, “We’re coming out of stealth mode as we get ready to launch our initial product – the ColoPlexTM – in Europe by the end of the year. Not a lot of people outside the tech community locally are aware of us, and this is an opportunity to change that.”
Boyd founded EDP BioTech in 2005, and Mayer joined the company in 2013 and has served as Chief Executive Officer. They (pictured at right) were joined by their co-workers in showing-off the facility to the guests.
Jason Liggett, EDP BioTech’s Lead Scientist, led several tours like this one explaining one of the company’s two laboratories.
While we had visited the office and labs on several occasions, it was the first opportunity for many of the attendees. Many were local such as former Governor Don Sundquist, but a number came from Nashville, other states and, for that matter, other countries.
Among those coming from Nashville were (left to right in the picture on the left) Emily Ogden, Tennessee Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society Cancer (ACS) Action Network; Abby Trotter, Executive Director of Life Science Tennessee; Mayer; and Stephanie Haywood, ACS Director of Corporate Relations.
“We are excited to be not only in early detection, but early prevention,” Mayer said in his comments opening the program that featured several survivors sharing their stories. “EDP BioTech is a hidden gem. We are leading the charge on early detection.”
The company has been focused on developing a first-in-class, easy-to-use, accurate and cost-effective early test for colon cancer, the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. annually. If the cancer is detected and treated early, the survival rate is about 90 percent after five years.
About a year ago, the company made what Mayer characterized at the time as “a pretty big pivot. We’re building a new product and going after a faster path to market in a slightly different (part of the colon cancer screening) market segment, using state-of-the-art data science to solve a complex biologic problem.”
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