Jan 31, 2023

Company enters European market with point-of-care infectious disease diagnostic platform. Michael Barbella, Managing Editor01.31.23 Alveo Technologies Inc.  (Alveo) has appointed three life sciences industry leaders to its senior executive team to advance the development of its molecular sensing and diagnostics technology and lead the company through strategic growth and commercialization of its rapid, multiplexed molecular diagnostic platform, be.well. The be.well platform, a prior X-Prize winner, pairs advanced molecular assays with secure, HIPAA- and GDPR-compliant cloud-enabled data analytics for real-time disease, pathogen and contaminant diagnoses, detection, and analysis. Designed to bring molecular sensing and diagnostics closer to the point of need, whether at the point of care, over the counter, at home, or in the field, the rapid, handheld and portable be.well platform can be customized to detect a wide range of diseases including COVID-19, Influenza A/B, and RSV,  sexually transmitted infections and urinary tract infections as well as applications for veterinary, agricultural, and other industrial markets where low cost, accurate, rapid molecular testing, sampling, or detection capabilities are needed. Shaun Holt, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board of Directors Shaun Holt, board chairman and CEO. Holt previously served as chief operating officer of Atonarp Inc., a Celesta Capital-backed optical- and mass-spectrometry instrumentation company. Prior to Atonarp, as chief financial officer for Berkeley Lights Inc., he led the digital cell biology company through its $205 million initial public offering. In addition, Holt has held numerous finance leadership positions during his seven-year tenure at Illumina throughout its exponential growth phase. He brings more than 20 years of operational and financial leadership experience across various technology and life sciences companies from startups to large-capitalization companies. Holt is an advisor to Celesta Capital and serves on the Board of Directors of Prellis Biologics. Erik Tyrrell-Knott, chief Business and Strategy officer. Tyrrell-Knott will lead business and market  development, sales, partnering, and product management efforts, driving the company’s commercial, partnership, and go-to-market strategies. With more than 20 years of experience in strategic business development for medical device and diagnostic companies ranging from startups to mature global corporations, Tyrrell-Knott most recently served as vice president of Business Development at Atonarp Inc., and previously as head of Business Development for Thermo Fisher Scientific, and previously  as senior vice president of Business Development and Product Management at Mesa Biotech before its acquisition by Thermo Fisher. Slava Elagin, Ph.D., MBA, chief technology officer. Elagin brings to Alveo more than 20 years of experience in the in-vitro diagnostics and medical devices industries. Previously, he held senior executive operations and R&D positions with publicly traded and private companies including MiraVista Diagnostics, Meridian Biosciences, EraGen Biosciences, and Third Wave Technologies. Elagin has led 15 molecular diagnostic product development projects from product concept through U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearances and commercialization and is the author on 12 U.S. patents and three global patents for molecular assays and diagnostics. Alveo is helping transform the point-of-need molecular sensing and health tech markets with an “open platform” approach to co-developing rapid molecular testing capabilities with collaborative partners across multiple markets. “Alveo has spent seven years and more than $70 million dollars developing a bulletproof, mobile 'Molecular Lab' that can deliver exquisitely sensitive and specific testing wherever, whenever it is needed: literally in the field for crop testing, on farms for animal testing, and most importantly in labs, pharmacies, and doctors’ offices for various infectious diseases,” Holt said. “The future of healthcare, and molecular sensors as a whole, lies closer and closer to the patient or point of need, and the multiplexed Alveo platform will deliver insight and guidance with zero compromise.”    The be.well platform is the only point-of-care diagnostic platform that uses Alveo’s proprietary and globally patented method for the direct electrical sensing of nucleic acid amplification. This technology eliminates the need for specialized lighting and expensive optical detectors, while also simplifying certain aspects of primer manufacturing, providing a more robust and reliable diagnostic instrument. Alveo’s platform can be used with various specimen types, such as nasal, blood, or urine samples, which eliminates the need to modify the platform design for different disease applications. The design architecture—with 15 components—is reusable and rechargeable, Bluetooth- and cloud-enabled, with no moving parts or hazardous waste, is environmentally friendly, reduces manufacturing costs and limits supply chain risk. The simplicity of the detection methodology, its lower cost compared to other single-use diagnostic tests, and its wide range of health and disease applications are key advantages driving Alveo’s commercialization partnerships. “A seminal pillar of Alveo’s growth is to open our platform to companies with expertise, market reach, and customer insights that extend beyond what Alveo can accomplish on our own,” Tyrrell-Knott said. “Collaborating with partners to take molecular testing out of the lab, into new markets, and deliver actionable insights at the point of need is our core focus. The doors are open, and we are ready to co-develop.”   Alveo’s be.well COVID-19 Test received CE (Conformité Européene) Mark regulatory approval and the company is initially scaling up production for commercialization in the United Kingdom and European Union. Alveo is also actively pursuing 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Trending