Abcam and EpiCypher have announced a partnership intended to improve the reliability of antibodies used in ChIC/CUT&RUN epigenomic profiling, a development that clinical laboratory scientists working in chromatin biology and biomarker research may wish to note. The collaboration brings together Abcam’s antibody characterisation expertise with EpiCypher’s CUTANA™ ChIC/CUT&RUN platform to co-develop and validate reagents for transcriptional regulation and chromatin dynamics research.

Addressing reproducibility challenges in epigenomics

According to the companies, researchers in epigenomics continue to face difficulties generating reliable, high-resolution data on gene regulation, particularly where sample sizes are limited or where the aim is to identify robust biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Variability in antibody performance, combined with a lack of application-specific validation, has been cited as a source of reduced data quality and reproducibility, with knock-on effects for drug discovery timelines and the pace of disease biology research. The partnership seeks to address these issues by combining Abcam’s approaches to antibody characterisation with EpiCypher’s chromatin profiling technology. The companies note that this integration should allow researchers to generate more accurate and reproducible epigenomic data with greater confidence in reagent performance, while streamlining workflows and reducing experimental risk. Josh Johnson, VP, Product Management & Strategy at Abcam, said: “In partnership with EpiCypher, we are combining rigorous antibody validation with advanced ChIC/CUT&RUN workflows to help researchers select reagents with greater confidence. By integrating these co-developed, high-quality datasets into our portfolio, we’re enabling scientists worldwide to move faster and further, with the assurance that our reagents will stand up to the most demanding and transformative chromatin research.” Martis Cowles, PhD, CBO at EpiCypher, commented: “EpiCypher has always prioritized rigor in developing technologies for chromatin profiling, and that includes a meticulous approach to antibody validation, which is essential for accurate biological insights. Through our co-development partnership with Abcam, we are tackling one of the biggest challenges in the field: identifying highly specific and efficient antibodies against transcription factors. Together, we’re building the tools researchers need to unlock the next generation of epigenomic discoveries.”

Validation pipeline and portfolio integration

The two organisations have worked to identify antibodies against transcription factors and epigenetic modifiers, targets that are central to gene regulation but have historically proven difficult to validate. EpiCypher’s CUTANA™ ChIC/CUT&RUN validation pipeline has generated datasets demonstrating antibody performance using genome-wide enrichment metrics, incorporating Abcam’s knockout cell lines to confirm target specificity. This EpiCypher-generated data has now been incorporated into Abcam’s wider validation approach, intended to give researchers additional assurance when selecting antibodies for chromatin profiling applications.

What this means for laboratory scientists

For clinical laboratory scientists and researchers working with ChIC/CUT&RUN or CUT&Tag assays, the partnership signals a move toward more consistently validated reagents, which may reduce time spent on antibody troubleshooting during experimental design. Abcam noted that it supports approximately 750,000 researchers across more than 130 countries, spanning areas including cancer, neurological disorders, infectious diseases and metabolic disorders. EpiCypher, for its part, continues to expand its CUTANA™ platform, which also includes DNA methylation assays, Fiber-seq technology and a cloud-based bioinformatics platform.