Hepta, founded by veterans of methylation-based liquid biopsy work, released proof-of-concept data indicating circulating cell-free DNA methylation signatures reflect liver disease biology and fibrosis severity. The data were developed alongside a multiomic atlas from Duke University linking tissue-level methylation, gene expression and cell-type composition to plasma cfDNA signals. Hepta’s approach aims to offer a noninvasive assay for staging metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and fibrosis—clinical problems with high unmet need where current diagnostics rely on invasive liver biopsy or less-specific protein biomarkers. The company claims its algorithm decodes pathway activity, not just cell-of-origin signals, potentially delivering deeper disease biology readouts from a blood sample. If validated in larger cohorts, cfDNA methylation assays could reshape liver-disease patient stratification, monitoring and trial enrollment strategies and attract interest from payers and pharma sponsors running NASH/MASH programs.