Led by Former Illumina Executive Jeff Hawkins as Chief Executive Officer
Company Expands Leadership Team with the Addition of Katherine Atkinson as Chief Commercial Officer and Paul Meister to Board of Directors
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 20, 2019 — Truvian Sciences (“Truvian”) today announced the close of a $27.1 million Series B financing — led by GreatPoint Ventures and including DNS Capital and Tao Capital Partners along with existing investor Domain Associates — to support the acceleration of the company which is developing a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)cleared automated benchtop system to provide lab accurate results in 20 minutes for a full suite of health tests from a small sample of blood. The recent Series B brings total funds of $46.3 million raised to date. The company also announced the addition of Katherine Atkinson as Chief Commercial Officer and industry veteran Paul Meister to its Board of Directors.
“I am thrilled to be leading Truvian, a company with a disruptive and advanced technology platform with the potential to significantly improve peoples’ lives,” said Jeff Hawkins, President and Chief Executive Officer of Truvian. “More and more consumers are refusing to accept the status quo of healthcare and are saying no to expensive tests, inconvenient appointments and little to no access to their own test results. In parallel, retail pharmacies are rising to fill demand, becoming affordable health access points. By bringing accurate, on-site blood testing to convenient sites, we will give consumers a more seamless experience and enable them to act on the vast medical insights that come with regular blood tests.”
Truvian encompasses a powerful executive leadership team and Board of Directors, which represents visionary scientists and business leaders with a proven track record of success. In addition to being led by Chief Executive Officer Jeff Hawkins, who previously was Vice President and General Manager of the Reproductive and Genetic Health Business at Illumina, Dena Marrinucci, PhD, a life science entrepreneur who also co-founded Epic Sciences, is Truvian’s Co-founder and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Business Operations. Also, as announced today, Truvian recently strengthened its leadership team with the addition of Katherine Atkinson, as Chief Commercial Officer. Ms. Atkinson previously served as Chief Commercial Officer at Epic Sciences; Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Edico Genome; and held leadership roles at Illumina. Truvian’s Board of Directors is chaired by Truvian Co-founder Kim Kamdar, Ph.D., a Partner with Domain Associates, a healthcare venture capital leader.
Dr. Kamdar states, “The Board is especially encouraged by the support Truvian has received from the investment community and are pleased by the caliber of industry veterans who have joined the company.” She adds, “We are fortunate to have Katherine Atkinson join us as Chief
Commercial Officer, bringing more than 20 years of industry experience, most notably from companies including Illumina and Epic Sciences. We’re also delighted that Paul Meister has joined our Board. Paul brings decades of experience to Truvian, having served in senior executive and board roles for high-growth and publicly traded companies including Chairman and CEO of inVentiv Health and Chairman of the Board of Thermo Fisher Scientific. We look forward to their many contributions.”
Truvian’s approach to improving healthcare testing is based on developing a compact and fully automated benchtop system that combines chemistries, immunoassays and hematology assays in one device. No single on-site diagnostic platform, until now, covers such a wide range of analytes while providing accuracy that rivals off-site labs. Such a combination is unique but required to perform all standard assessment blood tests needed during a routine check-up. Without these three modalities in a single device, blood must be sent out to off-site labs, and results can take days to deliver. By combining multiple tests into one system, clinics and individuals will see significant cost and time savings. Truvian’s comprehensive wellness panel will cover 40 of the most commonly ordered diagnostic tests including a lipid panel, metabolic panel, complete blood cell count, as well as thyroid, liver and kidney functioning tests.
Truvian’s system is engineered for clinic convenience, with remote monitoring and serviceability. The platform’s dry reagent technology allows consumables to be stored at room temperature, eliminating cold chain and refrigeration needs. Further, fast and accurate results will be delivered electronically to individuals through a secure, easy-to-use digital platform. The company is working toward a CE Mark in the European Economic Area and a submission to the FDA for a 510(k) clearance along with a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waiver application that will allow for its system to be used in a retail setting or doctor’s office.
“With Truvian’s recent Series B financing, the company is in a position of strength as it moves toward an FDA submission for its benchtop system in 2020,” states Ashok Krishnamurthi, Managing Partner at GreatPoint Ventures, the lead investor in Truvian’s Series B financing. Mr. Krishnamurthi adds, “GreatPoint is committed to helping build transformational companies and chose to invest in Truvian due to the company’s truly disruptive technology, as well as its leadership of executives with proven success in healthcare, diagnostics and consumer technology. By developing an accurate, convenient and affordable alternative to off-site labs, Truvian is poised to raise the bar for consumers by providing them with immediate insights to inform their healthcare decisions.”
About Truvian Sciences
Truvian is a healthcare company at the intersection of diagnostics and consumer technology. Its automated benchtop system is being developed to produce lab-accurate results for a full-suite of health tests using a small sample of blood. Powered by patented technologies and intelligent integration, Truvian’s system delivers a convenient and affordable alternative to off-site labs, providing immediate insights to inform healthcare decisions. Truvian was founded by individuals with deep domain experience in healthcare, diagnostics, and consumer technology. Today, the team has expanded to include top scientists, engineers, and healthcare business leaders — each bringing specialized expertise to drive Truvian’s mission of making routine health testing convenient, affordable, and actionable.