VedaBio – the biotechnology company driving a paradigm shift in molecular detection – launched today with initial funding of over $40 million backed by lead investor OMX Ventures along with a select group of family offices, including Kleinmuntz Associates. So VedaBio has unlocked the true power of CRISPR for molecular detection by developing the CRISPR Cascade, a revolutionary platform born from the intersection of engineering and biology.
VedaBio’s CRISPR Cascade is a transformative new molecular detection platform that operates with a combination of unprecedented speed and accuracy. And the CRISPR Cascade platform eliminates the need for target amplification while maintaining PCR-level accuracy, all with an analytical turnaround time of less than a minute. And unlike PCR or other DNA/RNA amplification technologies where assay design complexity significantly increases with multiplexing, the CRISPR Cascade removes several fundamental constraints – which enables simple and highly multiplexed assays without signal loss or cross reactivity issues, for example. With performance that combines highly sensitive, accurate, and nearly instant results, CRISPR Cascade unlocks a universe of possibilities.
VedaBio Executive Team
— Anurup Ganguli, PhD, Board Director, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, who brings leading expertise in the field of molecular detection, having developed multiple research platforms during his time at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the lab of Professor Rashid Bashir, PhD, Co-Founder of VedaBio, Professor of Bioengineering, and currently Dean of The Grainger College of Engineering.
— Frédéric Sweeney, PhD, Board Director, President and Chief Operating Officer offers extensive experience in start-up and high growth healthcare company environments with a focus on venture capital, corporate development and operations. Before joining VedaBio, Fred held numerous executive roles at MeMed Diagnostics, bioMérieux, Versant Ventures, Northern Biologics, and T2 Biosystems.
— Christine Ginocchio, PhD, MT (ASCP), Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, is a renowned expert in molecular diagnostics and clinical microbiology. She has been the principal investigator for over 60 industry and pharmaceutical clinical trials that include 21 studies of in vitro diagnostic devices for US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance. Her recent roles prior to joining VedaBio include Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at Quotient and Senior VP of Global Medical Affairs at bioMerieux/BioFire. And Dr Ginocchio was responsible for the oversight of global FilmArray Medical Affairs activities, the Investigator-Initiated Research Program, and medical training. She remains active in numerous professional societies and Editorial Boards and is a voting member of the President’s Advisory Council for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB).
— Plus, the company also announced the appointment of leaders Will Harris as VP of Strategic Marketing, Ravi Vijayendran, PhD as SVP of Technical Operations and Quality, Don Masquelier, as VP Engineering, Phil Belgrader, PhD, as VP Systems Integration and Sally Brashear, VP Intellectual Property. Together the VedaBio team boasts over 150 years of experience in every aspect of bringing innovative products to market successfully.
KEY QUOTES:
“With the CRISPR Cascade reaction, we have unlocked the true power of CRISPR with a platform that delivers near-instant molecular detection of highly multiplexed analytes with best-in-class accuracy, all without the need for target amplification. We believe it is poised to emerge as a future gold standard for molecular detection, empowering major advances across multiple applications including research and industrial tools, diagnostics and therapeutics.”
— Anurup Ganguli, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of VedaBio
“It has been a true privilege to work with Anurup and the OMX Ventures team to bring a clear vision and rock-solid foundation of intellectual property, scientific excellence and a world-class team to life. At VedaBio, we are operating at the forefront of scientific innovation, creating a fundamental new model in the field of molecular detection. By combining the power of our platform with a strong focus on delivering products to solve real clinical and industrial needs, we are poised to transform clinical and operational workflows for the betterment of patients and consumers. Our goal is to provide access to true actionable information previously unattainable with prior molecular detection methods.”
— Fred Sweeney, PhD, President and Chief Operating Officer, VedaBio
