Echelon Biosciences was formed from a project under the Center for Cell Signaling, a State of Utah Center of Excellence, and was incorporated under the laws of the state of Utah as Echelon Research Laboratories, Inc. on October 3, 1997. The company has since changed its name to Echelon Biosciences Incorporated. The company was organized to further the science of lipid cell signaling and critical metabolic enzymes, which provide new and viable targets for the development of potential drugs and diagnostics for cancer, diabetes, inflammation, infections, and cardiovascular disease.

    Echelon has primarily used government grants to fund its research efforts. In conjunction with the development of assays for evaluating potential drugs, the company has developed certain biological compounds, called research reagents, necessary to evaluate the cellular reaction to a particular drug or product. In addition to using these research reagents for their own research and development, the company has been able to successfully market and sell these research reagents to academic institutions worldwide and is now expanding sales to commercial pharmaceutical companies. The sale of these research reagents accounts for 100 percent of net sales, which is used to fund continuing research for drug discovery and development.

    Echelon is privately held and has not had outside capital invested in it. Its principals and its employees, all of whom have been granted stock options, closely hold its equity. To date, Echelon has completely funded its growth internally.

    Echelon (EBI) is rapidly emerging as a prominent leader in the field of lipid (phosphoinositide (PI) and isoprenoid) cell signaling research and product development. These lipids are important second messengers in signaling pathways governing cellular proliferation, apoptosis, morphology and motility. Alterations in isoprenoid and phosphoinositide-mediated signaling pathways are involved in many disease states, including many cancers, inflammatory and immune response, insulin resistance, cardiovascular (CV) disease, calcium ion movement, and neurological function. Kinase and phosphatase enzymes control these pathways. Phosphoinositide second messengers exert their effects through specific interactions with protein effectors to activate downstream signaling. Thus, blocking the enzymes or interaction of phosphoinositides with the protein effectors might be one way of modulating signaling pathways in the diseases of cancer and diabetes. EBI has characterized key PI's in cancer tissue and has identified a number of compounds that present potential for therapeutic control over key enzymes in the related cancer pathway(s). Targeting key enzymes in bacterial isoprenoid pathways will provide new anti-infective targets for problematic bacteria. EBI's scientific expertise, proprietary know-how, and intellectual property (IP) in these signaling pathways position it perfectly to provide unique technology platforms for drug discovery, new therapeutics, and new specific related diagnostics.