The Fluidity One-Wu uses the Company’s transformational microfluidic diffusional sizing (MDS) technology to characterize protein interactions in solution and in crude backgrounds. This technology gives researchers and drug developers the power to more accurately characterize, quantify and distinguish protein interactions of all kinds – even difficult-to-study interactions like on-target and off-target binding of drugs and interactions involving proteins that are intrinsically disordered.
Founded as a spin-out from the University of Cambridge, Fluidic Analytics continues to grow at an extraordinary rate and in 2018 raised €27 million to continue developing its pipeline of products for characterizing proteins and the way they interact with other biomolecules. The Fluidity One-W is an early step in Fluidic’s product pipeline – a pipeline that will culminate in a device that can allow an eight-year-old to gather deep information about every protein and every protein interaction in any biological system. The business’s ultimate goal is to use data from such devices to provide doctors with early warnings and real-time updates about any person’s health status, including their responses to particular drugs, the early stages of disease or the development of allergies.
DNA has the power to predict what is likely to happen in a biological system at some point in time, but proteins have the power to tell us what is actually happening at any given point in time. However, while recent advances in genomics have made it cheap and easy to characterize DNA, proteins and protein interactions are notoriously hard to characterize with traditional technologies. Fluidic is striving to change all this.
Joe Keegan, Fluidic’s new Chairman, commented: “It’s always exciting to join a new company, especially one with a vision as clear and exciting as Fluidic Analytics. I’m really looking forward to helping make that vision a reality - to move further beyond genomics to a world where a deeper understanding of proteins and how they interact with other biomolecules makes it easier to unlock new areas of biology and deliver the right treatments to the right patients at the right time.”
Joe led ForteBio as CEO and guided the company through a period of rapid sales growth from that culminated in the company’s sale to Pall Corporation, delivering a return of $160m to investors. Prior to his tenure at ForteBio, Joe served as CEO of NASDAQ-listed Molecular Devices Corporation, where he grew revenues from $25m to $185m and oversaw the company’s acquisition by MDS Corporation. He currently serves on the Boards of Bio-Techne (TECH) and Interpace Diagnostics (IDXG) and a number of early- and growth-stage companies in the life science tools and diagnostics industries. Joe’s other past appointments include two-time Chairman of the Analytical, Life Science & Diagnostics Association (ALDA), Non-Executive Chairman of Labcyte Inc and Non-Executive Director of Advanced Cellular Diagnostics, ProteinSimple and Seahorse Bioscience.
Dr Andrew Lynn, CEO, Fluidic Analytics added: “Welcoming Joe as our Chairman is an honor, he will be a tremendous asset to Fluidic Analytics and a powerful addition to an already strong board. His experience across both life science research tools and diagnostics makes him the ideal fit to help our team drive Fluidic into its next phase of growth. Joe’s exceptional track record at some of the most respected companies in our industry demonstrates his deep understanding of the markets we operate in. We are delighted to have him join us on our journey to transform life sciences and healthcare for the better.<
Image:: Dr Joe Keegan (left) and Dr Andrew Lynn