Wobble Genomics, a biotechnology company working to improve outcomes in cancer through better diagnosis and therapy selection, via a novel ultra-sensitive cell-free RNA (cfRNA) liquid biopsy diagnostic platform, today announced the appointment of Dr. Dietrich Stephan as Chairman of the Board. Dr. Stephan brings a track record in scaling high-growth biotechnology companies, bolstering Wobble Genomics’ recent emergence from stealth mode.
Speaking about his new role, Dr. Stephan said, “Wobble Genomics’ cfRNA technology is more sensitive than other liquid biopsy technologies and contains detailed information about the tumour’s biology. These features enable not only early detection of cancer, tumour localisation, therapy response, and recurrence monitoring; but also promise the ability to guide physicians in the selection of therapies – such as antibody-drug conjugates and individualised cancer vaccines – all from a small blood sample that can be repeated along the patient’s journey. This decision-making ability opens new opportunities to improve outcomes, especially in metastatic disease when the tumours themselves are unavailable for profiling, and thus clinical decision making is opaque at a crucial juncture in the patient journey. With its unique Level-Up™ technology to amplify rare tumour-shed transcripts and long-read single-molecule RNA sequencing, Wobble has a platform that I firmly believe will move the field forward and benefit significant numbers of patients”.
Dr. Stephan is a notable figure in the biotechnology industry, with a career distinguished by leading many major genomics efforts and founding and leading multiple successful biotech ventures. His expertise is in molecular diagnostics, therapeutic development, and genome interpretation. Dr. Stephan played a leading role in ushering in the era of personalised genetic medicine in both germline disease and oncology. In germline disease, as co-founder of Navigenics, the first direct-to-consumer genomics company, his team invented pre-symptomatic polygenic risk assessment to reduce the burden and costs of common chronic diseases later in life. In oncology, he is an inventor of the approach to cancer tumour sequencing using next-generation sequencing and subsequent therapy selection, and was an early advisor to Guardant Health, the first major cancer liquid biopsy company. He has previously held key leadership roles, including as founding Chairman of Pendulum Therapeutics Inc., which develops microbiome-modulating therapies, and founding Chairman of Peptilogics Inc., an AI-driven peptide therapeutics platform, among many other leadership roles aimed at alleviating suffering and death caused by disease.
Dr. Stephan joins a distinguished team backed by a world-leading panel of advisors in genomics, diagnostics, and oncology. This includes Dr. Richard Hockett, Chief Medical Officer, who previously served as Director of Genomics at Eli Lilly and Chief Medical Officer at Affymetrix; and Dr. Han-Yu Chuang, Chief Technology Officer and former Vice President of Technology at Guardant Health.
Dr. Richard Kuo, the company’s CEO and Founder, said: “We are delighted to welcome Dr. Stephan to Wobble Genomics at this transformative stage. With his experience in building and growing biotech companies – especially in molecular diagnostics and genome interpretation – he brings invaluable expertise and earned wisdom to help spearhead our mission to take the next big step in improving cancer outcomes. His leadership will be key in helping us build strategic partnerships and create innovative solutions that we believe will transform diagnostics and patient care.”
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