Contact Information: Contact Information LeukoDx: Julien Meissonnier President and CEO Tel: +972 544 575 536 Email:
LeukoDx Appoints Dr. Bruce Davis as Chief Scientific Officer and Signs MOU for In-Licensing Technology From Trillium Diagnostics
| Source: LeukoDx
TOWSON, MD--(Marketwire - January 12, 2010) - LeukoDx LP is pleased to announce today the
appointment of Dr. Bruce Davis, MD as Chief Scientific Officer of LeukoDx.
The company is concurrently announcing the signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding with Dr. Davis' company, Trillium Diagnostics, for
in-licensing a patent and technology pertaining to quantifying CD64 at the
point of care on LeukoDx's compact flow cytometry platform. These
activities represent critical advancement for the development of LeukoDx's
technology and product line.
Dr. Bruce Davis, MD is Founder and President of Trillium Diagnostics, a
privately held company located in Bangor, Maine that develops diagnostic
assays for clinical cytometry and laboratory hematology. He leads research
and development of new diagnostic products in this area and in particular,
developed and is working on establishing acceptance of a laboratory
diagnostic assay for the detection of infection and sepsis. Dr. Davis has
over 100 peer-reviewed publications, serves on the editorial boards for
journals of cytometry and laboratory hematology, as Chairman of the
Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and has provided consultation
to a number of medical diagnostics companies. He earlier served as Director
of Hematopathology at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and at US
Labs. He received his BS in Biology from Cornell University in New York and
his MD from University of Connecticut.
Dr. Davis is an expert in hematology and flow cytometry for diagnostic use,
and has spent nearly 15 years researching CD64, the first biomarker LeukoDx
will integrate into its disposable test cartridge for sepsis diagnosis and
monitoring. He is a leading scientist in his field and particularly with
regards to the CD64 biomarker, for which Trillium Diagnostics has developed
tests kits to perform the test on laboratory based hematology and flow
cytometry instruments. The TrilliumDx test kits are CE marked and the FDA
approval is pending. Dr. Davis' specific experience with clinical
diagnostics reagent development, clinical trials with CD64 reagent kits and
the regulatory approval process will significantly accelerate the
development LeukoDx's first product as the company moves towards
commercialization of its novel technology in the form of a point of care
instrument and disposable test-specific cartridges.
Julien Meissonnier, President and CEO of LeukoDx, stated: "We are thrilled
to have a world cytometry expert of Dr. Davis' caliber join our team. As
LeukoDx works on developing its point of care flow cytometry platform, we
have been convinced that sepsis is an application with unmet need where
only point of care testing can provide the necessary decision making
information to doctors in a timely fashion. We have also been convinced
that CD64 is the right marker to implement this vision. We are delighted
that not only Dr. Davis shares our vision to develop a point of care test
for CD64, but also that he chose to join our efforts to make this a
reality."
Dr. Davis stated: "The mature positioning of white blood cell CD64
measurement as a superior diagnostics for detection and monitoring of
infection/sepsis in clinical medicine is the ability to perform testing at
the point of patient care. Trillium Diagnostics has been observing the
technologies in the point of care testing area for several years, waiting
for the optimal technology and committed strategic partner. We believe
LeukoDx is just that partner with innovative technology and a talented and
dedicated development team. This strategic integration of Trillium
Diagnostics and LeukoDx will provide a nearly seamless evolution of our
CD64 based diagnostic products for infection/sepsis from high complexity
multiparameter flow cytometry instruments to hematology platforms and now
to a portable point of care device. This device with a simple to use,
disposable CD64 testing cartridge should allow for rapid clinical decision
in patient settings such as the neonatal intensive care units, critical
care areas, emergency care areas, and remote clinics lacking access to
diagnostic medical laboratories."
About LeukoDx
LeukoDx's mission is to become the world leader in actionable diagnostic
information at the point of care with its novel micro flow cytometry
technology platform. Working towards this goal, the company is today
developing compact flow cytometry readers for single use test-specific
cartridges. The first test application is for sepsis, a leading killer
worldwide with high mortality rates and no rapid, reliable diagnostic test.
The company will enter the market via neonatal sepsis testing, where the
patient population is even more vulnerable and the LeukoDx test addresses
the unmet need very well. LeukoDx was created in 2009 and is based on novel
technology developed for NASA by CalTech.