News & Announcements
First Criminal Conviction Secured with Next-Gen Forensic DNA Technology
San Diego, June 4, 2019—Verogen announced today that its DNA sequencing technology played a pivotal role in a recent court case in the Netherlands. This marks the first time that evidence generated with so-called “next generation” or massively parallel sequencing (MPS) has been used to secure a conviction in criminal courts of law. The defendant in the case was initially acquitted of sexual assault charges due to inconclusive DNA results generated with older technology (capillary electrophoresis). The prosecutor was granted an appeal, however, that allowed re-testing of the remaining biological evidence with contemporary MPS methods. The additional testing, conducted by Dutch forensic experts at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) using the MiSeq® sequencing system, yielded “highly informative DNA profiles,” according to Professor Peter de Knijff at LUMC. “Using the MiSeq we obtained a great deal more useful data, which proved extremely valuable as evidence in the case,” said Prof. de Knijff. “We could only have obtained these results using this sequencing platform.” Prof. de Knijff is considered a pioneer in the forensic use of MPS, which has already been widely implemented in other biological disciplines. For a number of years, Prof. de Knijff and other scientific leaders have argued that MPS offers significant advantages compared to the older methods commonly used in forensic laboratories. This recent court verdict supports that perspective. “This is an important milestone for acceptance of this technology as a powerful forensic tool,” said Brett Williams, Verogen CEO. “Verogen is extremely proud to partner with leading forensic institutes like LUMC to assist the criminal justice system in developing or refuting genetic linkages.” Verogen, Inc. was established in 2017 to develop, sell and support forensic assays and software on Illumina sequencing platforms such as the MiSeq. The adjudication of this case is yet another sign of the accelerating global adoption of [...]
Cellmark and Verogen Collaborate to Make the Next Generation of Forensic DNA Analysis Available to UK Police
San Diego, May 8, 2019—Cellmark Forensic Services and Verogen have signed a collaboration agreement to establish Cellmark as a United Kingdom (UK) center of excellence for forensic next generation sequencing (NGS), also known as massively parallel DNA sequencing (MPS). Verogen, the leading provider of forensic MPS technology, completed its installation of a MiSeq FGx® platform at Cellmark’s Abingdon laboratory in February and the forensic validation exercise is now well underway. Supported by the collaboration, Cellmark will be seeking to accredit MPS technology so that it can be introduced into forensic casework. “We are very excited about the potential benefits that this technology will bring to forensic investigations,” said David Hartshorne, Managing Director at Cellmark. “The MPS technology will provide our scientists with far more detailed DNA information than is currently possible, which could be used to help resolve some of our most challenging forensic cases.” Within a single DNA test the technology will not only analyze Short Tandem Repeat (STR) markers that are currently used to populate the National DNA Database, but at the same time will provide Y-STR results (for male subjects), X-chromosome STR results, as well as a large number of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers. The SNP markers can assist with the certainty of identification and provide information about the appearance of the subject (phenotypic information) as well as data about their biogeographical ancestry. MPS also has the potential to recover additional DNA information from the low level, degraded and mixed samples typical of forensic investigations but for which traditional methods can sometimes struggle to produce conclusive results. “MPS technology is already well established in other scientific fields,” said Brett Williams, CEO of Verogen, “and is now starting to prove its capability in forensic investigations with the first cases having gone through court. We are delighted to be working in the UK [...]
Medpricer Signs Deal with Texas Children’s Hospital for Purchased Services Sourcing
May 8th, 2019 – Guilford, CT/Walnut Creek, CA – Medpricer, the leading purchased services cost management solution for the health care industry, announced today that Texas Children’s Hospital chose its mSource software platform to centralize its purchased service sourcing efforts. Texas Children’s Hospital is one of the largest pediatric hospitals in the nation and continues to grow and expand its services across the state of Texas. To meet these expanding needs, Texas Children’s created a Purchased Services Department to work with hospital stakeholders to identify which products and services are necessary to support patient care. Medpricer will provide the hospital with complete life cycle management tools for purchased services. mSource delivers analytics, e-RFP sourcing and Precision Benchmarks within one platform. This service can: Analyze more than 600+ spend categories to identify the suppliers that best meet their purchased services needs Run a complete RFP event online, from a call for proposals to negotiating and signing contracts Benchmark cost savings available within specific categories to determine what savings are available “Medpricer’s life cycle management expertise will complement Texas Children’s Purchased Services team,” said Medpricer CEO Chris Gormley. “By centralizing the entire purchased services sourcing process, we will help the hospital to maximize savings for the products and services with the goal of benefiting both staff and patients.” For more information, please visit www.medpricer.com. About Medpricer For more than a decade, Medpricer has helped move savings strategies forward with scalable purchased services solutions that improve sourcing efficiency and financial health. Their industry-leading software, mSource®, is the only all-in-one contract management, negotiation, and analytics platform that enables organizations to tailor contract terms to fit their unique needs – not those of a group. Engage with your purchasing data, learn from market intelligence, unite your stakeholders, and move contracts through the pipeline – faster. No catches, no [...]
Nimble Therapeutics Spins Out from Roche to Commercialize Novel Drug Discovery Technology with Financing from Telegraph Hill Partners
April 30, 2019 (Madison, WI): Nimble Therapeutics has begun operating as a standalone business after spinning out from F. Hoffmann La Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) to commercialize its proprietary chemical synthesis technology for drug development. The company also completed a Series A financing led by Telegraph Hill Partners (San Francisco, CA). Nimble Therapeutics will leverage the unparalleled speed and flexibility of its proprietary chemical synthesis platform, developed at Roche, to accelerate the discovery and optimization of macrocyclic peptidomimetics as novel therapeutics. “As a fully independent business, Nimble Therapeutics will establish strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to jointly develop unique drug candidates more efficiently across many therapeutic areas”, notes Dr. Jigar Patel, who led the development of the technology and will serve as CEO of the company. Nimble Therapeutics has hired the former Roche team that helped develop its chemical synthesis technology for drug discovery. The company’s platform, validated over many years and through numerous collaborations, provides the ability to synthesize millions of unique natural and modified peptide-based molecules simultaneously. These molecules can be efficiently screened and optimized through rapid iterations to identify novel entities with the desired characteristics using the Nimble platform. As part of its growth strategy, the company will expand its current collaborations and strategically develop new relationships in key therapeutic areas. “The Roche team saw the value in separating the business to enable it to expand its platform and work on a variety of therapeutic areas with strategic partners”, said Dr. Deval Lashkari, Senior Partner at Telegraph Hill Partners and board director at Nimble Therapeutics, “Nimble’s capabilities are truly revolutionary and we are excited to work with the company in a shared vision to grow the business into a leading drug discovery partner for the pharmaceutical industry.” About Nimble Therapeutics Nimble Therapeutics is bringing the [...]
Intermountain Healthcare Strikes Deal with Medpricer
GUILFORD, CONN. AND WALNUT CREEK, CALIF. (PRWEB) APRIL 22, 2019 Medpricer, the leading purchased services cost management solution for the healthcare industry, announced today Intermountain Healthcare has joined its customer roster. Through this partnership, Intermountain Healthcare will have access to industry benchmarks and software driven by artificial intelligence to evaluate and improve their purchased services contracts. As one of the largest and most prominent healthcare providers in the United States, Intermountain Health has a reputation as an industry leader for providing gold-standard patient care through innovative solutions. “Intalere, our healthcare solutions partner, played a critical role in creating this collaboration among our organizations and Medpricer. Medpricer is making it faster and easier for our teams to make more strategic decisions in our purchased services spending. We’re eager to see how our contracts compare in the market and fulfill our sourcing objectives for the year. John Wright, Intermountain Healthcare Vice President of Supply Chain and Support Services By partnering with Medpricer, Intermountain Healthcare will access: Healthcare data intelligence with a subscription to Precision Benchmarks With more than 70 purchased services categories to benchmark, Intermountain Healthcare can compare its current pricing and service level terms with industry standards. Equipped with market intel, Medpricer will help Intermountain Healthcare refine their savings targets and provide a customizable project roadmap to track progress. mSource® Analytics to visualize purchased services spend With the aid of mSource®, Intermountain Healthcare can efficiently measure spend activity by category, supplier, and facility to monitor and improve supplier performance. Furthermore, Medpricer delivers actionable insights that help the supply chain to address other opportunities, such as: illuminating recurring charges, shifting to on-contract spend and aligning expiring contracts. mSource® Contract Text Analysis uses Natural Language Processing to search for intent With the capability to analyze thousands of documents at the push of a button, [...]
Clinical Solutions to Provide Clients Products & Services to Accelerate the Clinical and Commercial Development of Gene and Cell Therapies
Vancouver, British Columbia– Precision NanoSystems (PNI), a biotechnology company pioneering innovative solutions for the development of genetic nanomedicines used in oncology, rare disease and infectious disease, announced today the launch of its Clinical Solutions service. PNI is offering this new service as a response to repeated requests from clients progressing their programs towards the clinic for support across all aspects of nanomedicine clinical development. Clinical Solutions offers clients a flexible, customizable suite of products and services designed to accelerate the clinical and commercial development of Gene and Cell Therapies. Clinical Solutions maximizes the effectiveness of clinical and commercial nanomedicine development by leveraging client capabilities and resources with Precision’s NanoAssemblr technology, nanomedicine development services, and value-added partners. The service’s flexibility enables solutions for both virtual companies and multinational Pharmaceutical organizations developing nanomedicines. “We are dedicated to enabling the success of our client’s nanomedicine development programs”, said Euan Ramsay, Chief Commercial Officer of Precision. “Clinical Solutions is designed to provide a one-stop-shop for all nanomedicine clinical development needs, such as, sourcing GMP excipients, developing analytical methods, building Quality Management Systems or accessing experienced Contract Manufacturing Organizations.” To celebrate the formal launch of the Clinical Solutions service, Precision is sponsoring a symposium “The Future of GMP Drug Manufacturing from Small Molecules to Nanomedicines: Opportunities and Challenges” hosted by the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. The symposium will explore the challenges and opportunities for the clinical development and commercial supply of different therapeutic modalities as patient treatment evolves from population-based to precision medicine. The symposium is scheduled for Wednesday, April 10 from 9 AM - 10:30 AM and the session will be recorded and made available as a future webinar series. About Precision NanoSystems Inc. Precision NanoSystems Inc. (PNI) proprietary NanoAssemblr Platform enables the rapid, reproducible, and scalable manufacture of next generation nanoparticle formulations [...]
Akoya Biosciences Appoints Joseph Driscoll as Chief Financial Officer
MENLO PARK, Calif.--Akoya Biosciences, Inc., today announced the appointment of Joseph Driscoll as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Driscoll joins Akoya with more than 30 years of financial leadership experience and a proven track record of driving growth and increasing company valuations. “I am delighted to welcome Joe to the Akoya team and look forward to working with him,” said Brian McKelligon, Chief Executive Officer of Akoya. “Joe’s strategic, finance, and business operations skill set will be a great asset as we continue building on our mission to revolutionize the tissue biomarker field.” Mr. Driscoll is a seasoned financial and strategic leader with extensive experience in several industries including technology, life sciences, and consumer products. He most recently served as CFO at Quanterix Corporation (NASDAQ: QTRX), where during his tenure the company successfully completed an IPO, and the valuation increased from approximately $200 million to over $500 million in two years. He also served as CFO at several other public and private companies, including Verscend, Inc. (healthcare data analytics), PC Connection, Inc. (technology service provider; NASDAQ: CNXN), Summer Infant, Inc., ACT Electronics, Inc., and Safety 1st, Inc. In addition, Mr. Driscoll held senior management positions at Staples, Inc., and he started his career as an Audit Manager of KPMG Peat Marwick. Mr. Driscoll is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a B.S. in Accounting from Boston College. “With their comprehensive solutions for high-parameter tissue analysis, Akoya has the opportunity to drive significant advances in biomedical research and I am excited to be joining the company,” said Mr. Driscoll. “Akoya’s recent accomplishments and successes are impressive, and I’m looking forward to joining the rest of the experienced management team to drive the company’s continued growth.” Akoya recently announced the commercial release of two new products (see press release), the CODEX platform and Phenoptics [...]