REG - Oxford BioDynamics - OBD and UEA develop test for Chronic Fatigue

Oxford BiodynamicsAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 4549C  Oxford BioDynamics PLC  08 October 2025

Oxford BioDynamics plc

("Oxford BioDynamics" or "OBD" or the "Company")

 

OBD and UEA develop breakthrough diagnostic test for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

 

·      First-in-class blood test for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome achieves
high 96% accuracy

·      Offers hope as a reliable test, avoiding lengthy diagnosis delays
and misdiagnosis

·      Peer-reviewed study published in Journal of Translational
Medicine

 

Oxford, UK - 08 October 2025 - Oxford BioDynamics Plc (AIM: OBD), a precision
clinical diagnostics company bringing specific and sensitive tests to the
practice of medicine based on its EpiSwitch® 3D genomics platform, is pleased
to announce the development of a new highly accurate blood test to diagnose
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).

 

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a serious and often debilitating long-term illness
characterised by extreme fatigue that affects 400,000 people in the UK and
millions worldwide. It is poorly understood and has long lacked a reliable
diagnostic test.

 

Lead University of East Anglia (UEA) researcher, Prof Dmitry Pshezhetskiy,
said:

 

"We know that some patients report being ignored or even told that their
illness is 'all in their head'. With no definitive tests, many patients have
gone undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years.

 

"This is a significant step forward. For the first time, we have a simple
blood test that can reliably identify ME/CFS - potentially transforming how we
diagnose and manage this complex disease. Additionally, understanding the
biological pathways involved in ME/CFS opens the door to developing targeted
treatments and identifying which patients might benefit most from specific
therapies."

 

With 96% accuracy (92% sensitivity, 98% specificity), the new blood test
offers hope for a definitive and timely diagnostic tool for ME/CFS. The full
study, conducted by scientists at UEA, OBD, the London School of Hygiene &
Tropical Medicine, and Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, has been accepted
for publication in the Journal of Translational Medicine(1).

 

OBD Chief Scientific Officer, Alexandre Akoulitchev, said:

 

"With this breakthrough, we are proud to enable a first-in-class test that can
address an unmet need for a quick and reliable diagnostic for a complex,
challenging-to-identify illness.

 

"Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is not a genetic disease you're born with. That's
why using EpiSwitch 'epigenetic' markers, which can change during a person's
life, unlike fixed genetic code, has been key to achieving this level of
accuracy. The EpiSwitch platform behind this test, together with OBD's vast 3D
genomic EpiSwitch Knowledgebase, has already proven its ability to deliver
practical, rapid blood diagnostics that are accessible at scale."

 

Using OBD's EpiSwitch® 3D genomics biomarker technology and advanced
bioinformatic-AI suite, the team identified unique markers based on how DNA is
consistently folded in blood from ME/CFS patients. This looked beyond the
linear DNA code investigated by a previous DecodeME study, the largest genetic
investigation of the disease to date(2). UEA and OBD revealed hundreds of
additional changes in CFS/ME patients, including sites found by DecodeME,
which now provide a deeper understanding of the disease.

 

Going forward, the Company aims to identify an appropriate partner to
co-develop or license the test, and bring it into the clinic as soon as
possible.

 

The breakthrough also provides a basis for developing a similar test for
post-Covid syndrome ('long Covid'), a debilitating condition triggered by
exposure to the Covid-19 virus which shares overlapping symptoms with ME/CFS.

 

This approach, using OBD's EpiSwitch technology, has previously shown success
in identifying disease-specific blood-based biomarkers in highly complex
inflammatory and neurological conditions such as fast ALS (amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis),  rheumatoid arthritis, and certain cancers. OBD's EpiSwitch PSE
(https://www.94percent.com/) blood test is already used in the UK and US for
detecting prostate cancer with leading 94% accuracy. In August, OBD announced
its collaboration with Google Cloud to deliver the proprietary EpiSwitch
Knowledgebase and AI-powered analytical tools-used to deliver insights in this
CFS/ME study-in a secure, globally accessible environment to the benefit of
pharma and biotech partners(3).

 

The peer-reviewed manuscript, titled "Development and validation of
blood-based diagnostic biomarkers for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) using EpiSwitch® 3-dimensional genomic regulatory
immuno-genetic profiling", is publishing online today in the Journal of
Translational Medicine(1).

 

-Ends-

 

References

(1 ) Hunter, E., Alshaker, H., et al (2025). Development and validation of
blood-based diagnostic biomarkers for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) using EpiSwitch® 3-dimensional genomic regulatory
immuno-genetic profiling. J Transl Med. DOI: 10.1186/s12967-025-07203-w

A copy of the paper is available via the following Dropbox link here:
https://obdx.co/9g2 (https://obdx.co/9g2)

(2) Genetics Discovery Team, et al (2025). Initial findings from the DecodeME
genome-wide association study of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue
syndrome. medRxiv, Preprint. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.06.25333109
(https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.06.25333109)

(3) Oxford BioDynamics plc (2025). Oxford BioDynamics and Google Cloud Agree
to Collaborate and Help Accelerate Cloud-Based Analytical Frameworks for
Precision Medicine. Regulatory News Service.
https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/uk/oxford_biodynamics_plc/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=2040&newsid=1976564

 

For further information please contact:

 Oxford BioDynamics Plc                       +44 (0)1865 518910

 Iain Ross, Executive Chairman

 Paul Stockdale, CFO

 Camarco - Financial PR

 Marc Cohen / Tilly Butcher / Fergus Young    +44 (0)20 3757 4980

                                              OBDFinancial@camarco.co.uk (mailto:OBDFinancial@camarco.co.uk)
 University of East Anglia

 UEA communications office                    communications@uea.ac.uk (mailto:communications@uea.ac.uk)

 Prof Dmitry Pshezhetskiy                     D.Pshezhetskiy@uea.ac.uk (mailto:D.Pshezhetskiy@uea.ac.uk)

Notes for Editors

About Oxford BioDynamics Plc

Oxford BioDynamics Plc (AIM: OBD) is an international biotechnology company,
advancing personalized healthcare by developing and commercializing precision
clinical diagnostic tests for life-changing diseases.

Currently OBD has two commercially available products: the EpiSwitch® PSE
(https://url.avanan.click/v2/___http:/www.94percent.com/___.YXAxZTpzaG9yZWNhcDphOm86ZGFiYjhlY2EwMWM5YWYzYjdhZjZhZmExZGM4OTMyMDg6NjphZTRmOjE1ZmE3ZTA1NmFmMzlmYjIzZmFhOGU1NTc5MWI0OTdiODZmMjVmOTFlOWQ2YjBiZTM3YmNmMTMxMGYxOTcxMjI6cDpU)
 (EpiSwitch Prostate Screening test) and EpiSwitch® CiRT
(https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https:/www.mycirt.com/___.YXAxZTpzaG9yZWNhcDphOm86ZGFiYjhlY2EwMWM5YWYzYjdhZjZhZmExZGM4OTMyMDg6NjpjZGI4OjQ3ZWJmMjU3YzNhNjYzYzNiYWVjZGNlMTJjZDM5ZGZkYzBlNmQyNTc0OTdlZWU4ZGI4ODFlYzU1OWZmN2JmMWE6cDpU)
 (Checkpoint Inhibitor Response Test) blood tests. PSE boosts the predictive
accuracy of a PSA test from 55% to 94% when testing the presence or absence of
prostate cancer. CiRT is a highly accurate (85%) predictive response test to
immuno-oncology checkpoint inhibitor treatments.

The tests are based on OBD's proprietary 3D genomic biomarker platform,
EpiSwitch® which enables screening, evaluation, validation and monitoring of
biomarkers to diagnose patients or determine how individuals might respond to
a disease or treatment.

OBD's clinical smart tests have the potential to be used across a broader
range of indications, and new tests are being developed in the areas of
oncology, neurology, inflammation, hepatology and animal health.

The Group's headquarters and UK laboratories are in Oxford, UK. Its US
operations and clinical laboratory are in Maryland, USA, along with a
reference laboratory in Penang, Malaysia.

OBD is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM (LSE: OBD). For more
information, please visit the Company's website, www.oxfordbiodynamics.com
(http://www.oxfordbiodynamics.com/) ,  X (@OxBioDynamics) or LinkedIn
(https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https:/www.linkedin.com/company/oxford-biodynamics___.YXAxZTpzaG9yZWNhcDphOm86ZGFiYjhlY2EwMWM5YWYzYjdhZjZhZmExZGM4OTMyMDg6NjozM2I4OmVmNzdkN2M0NmYxZDg3ODc0MWQ1NDEyMGQ4MjAxOWVmMTg4ZTMzNWY4MTA5NGE3NTE5ZDdlNWIwNjI5MTRhMTM6cDpU)
.

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