Cergentis, a genomics company that develops and commercializes kits and services based on its proprietary Targeted Locus Amplification (TLA) technology, announced the appointment of Joris Schuurmans as Chief Executive Officer and Dirk Pollet and Maja Sanders as Supervisory Board members. Novalis Biotech Incubation will invest in Cergentis’ growth potential.
Incoming CEO Joris Schuurmans has extensive experience in the molecular diagnostics and bio-pharmaceutical industry. He held senior executive positions at Biocartis and MyCartis, and recently lead SkylineDx’ melanoma program prior to transitioning to his role at Cergentis.
Joris Schuurmans, newly appointed CEO of Cergentis, commented: “I am very excited by the opportunity to join Cergentis at this pivotal stage. The company has developed an impressive array of products and services in the field of genetic engineering, and is extremely well-positioned to enter the molecular diagnostics field with products that elucidate DNA variants in tumors that cannot be well-analyzed with current technologies. We are all excited to embark on our mission to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients.”
Dr. Jan Groen, Chairman of the Board: “A heartfelt gratitude to outgoing CEO Jan Dekker, who laid the foundation for Cergentis to take the next step to accelerate the development and commercialization of its unique TLA technology for cancer diagnostics. We are pleased to welcome Joris as new CEO. Joris has an excellent international track record in the biotech industry.We are also very pleased with the appointment of our two new Board members Maja and Dirk. Both are industry veterans and experienced Board members.”
Dr. Dirk Pollet is currently CEO of Enzyre, and heralded the acquisition of Multiplicom by Agilent as the CEO of Multiplicom. Maja Sanders currently holds supervisory roles at various non-profit and for-profit organizations, and has built up extensive managerial experience in the private equity industry.
Dr.Jan Groen, Chairman of the Board: “Dirk and Maja are valuable additions to the Board and we are pleased they join us in these exciting times. As Cergentis has already established a strong position it the support of drug development, we are looking forward to working together to support the company in further expansion in the cancer diagnostics field.”
Novalis Biotech Incubation to invest in Cergentis
Novalis Biotech Incubation, a Belgium venture capital investment fund, is investing in Cergentis.
Wim Van Criekinge, Co-founder of Novalis, and Board member of Cergentis added: “We are pleased to invest in Cergentis. Their proprietary Target Locus Amplification (TLA) technology is unique and allows the most advanced genome characterization to date”.
Joris Schuurmans, CEO of Cergentis: “We are delighted that Novalis has decided to invest in Cergentis. We appreciate their trust in our company and their support in our mission to improve the quality of genetic research and human healthcare worldwide.”
About TLA
Cergentis’ Targeted Locus Amplification (TLA) technology provides unique and critical advantages in the implementation of personalized medicine. Current sequencing approaches miss a portion of relevant genetic variation and will not identify a large share of structural variants in addition to being blind for the fact that the human genome is diploid and contains two versions of every gene. TLA is a well-established technology that enables targeted, cost-effective complete gene sequencing and the detection of all single nucleotide and structural variants. TLA can be applied on viable (frozen) cells, gDNA or on formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples directly.
About Cergentis
Cergentis is a genomics company that develops and commercializes TLA-based diagnostic kits for targeted complete next-generation sequencing of (trans)genes and gene editing events. The company also provides commercial services for leading research institutes and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. TLA is a well-established technology that provides unique and critical advantages in the implementation of personalized medicine and advanced genetic engineering. For more information: cergentis.com.
