Armune BioScience

Armune BioScience, Inc. operated as a medical diagnostics company, emerging as a spinout from the University of Michigan in 2008. The company was founded based on research conducted at the university by Arul Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The investment and consulting group, Apjohn Group LLC, played a role in launching Armune after being alerted to the technology by the university's tech transfer office in 2007. Eli L. Thomssen was the founding President and CEO. The firm was headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with its research and commercial laboratory located in Ann Arbor.

Armune focused on developing and commercializing diagnostic tests for the early detection of various cancers, including prostate, lung, and breast cancer. Its core business revolved around a proprietary technology that measures autoantibodies—specific biological markers associated with the immune system's response to cancer. The company's flagship product was Apifiny®, a blood test designed to aid clinicians in assessing the risk of prostate cancer. This test served as a secondary measure for men with elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, aiming to reduce the high rate of false positives associated with traditional PSA tests and thereby minimize unnecessary invasive biopsies. The business model was centered on providing this testing service to physicians, who would order the test for their patients, with Armune processing the blood samples in its Ann Arbor lab and generating a risk score. The company was paid between \$225 and \$275 per test.

Throughout its history, Armune achieved several milestones, including securing a grand prize of \$500,000 at the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition in 2010. The company raised capital through multiple financing rounds, including a \$5 million Series A round in 2016, to fund commercial operations and further research and development. In December 2017, Armune's underlying technology was acquired by Exact Sciences for an initial \$12 million, with a potential for an additional \$17.5 million based on milestones. Following the acquisition, Armune BioScience ceased its lab operations, though the company name still exists.

Keywords: medical diagnostics, cancer detection, prostate cancer, Apifiny, autoantibody technology, non-PSA blood test, University of Michigan spinout, biomarker diagnostics, Arul Chinnaiyan, Exact Sciences acquisition, immunological testing, clinical laboratory services, cancer risk assessment, life sciences, molecular diagnostics, oncology testing, blood-based diagnostics, early cancer detection, health technology, venture capital-backed