SYFR is delivering near-patient cancer diagnostics providing simpler, faster, and more cost effective advanced tissue staining systems.
The Unmet Need
Medicine is becoming increasingly sophisticated using molecular and genetic information to personalise patient treatments, so called Precision or Tailored Medicine. New markets for diagnostic technologies to support this emerging are growing at a rapid rate. Diagnostic companies are looking for an innovative position in the triangle between patient, doctor and payer. SYFR’s technology and current opportunity are closely aligned and uniquely positions the company to exploit the immediate opportunity within the high revenue tissue-based cancer diagnostics market.
Tissue-based Antibody-IHC, RNA-ISH and Next Generation Sequencing are multi-billion diagnostic markets. Automation allows for tissue-based diagnosis to be completed with greater efficiency, accuracy and at a lower cost. Automation in IHC has proven to play a critical and central role to both retain customers and increase revenues per customer. Large diagnostics companies such as GE-Healthcare, Agilent, Abbott Laboratories, Roche Diagnostics and Danaher Corporation have entered the market and are constantly evaluating acquisitions and/or partnership options. There is great interest for getting access to advanced low cost automation with a unique IP position and which addresses the needs of both developed and emerging markets. “Decentralized” molecular testing - closer to patients with much lower skill requirement is unequivocally regarded as a disruptive and exponential growth opportunity, owing to its faster test turnaround, higher margins, better patient care and a more rewarding physician experience.
ABOUT US
SYFR is a biotech company located in San Francisco Bay Area. We started our operations in 2006 and have been diligently working towards building the next generation staining system for cancer diagnostics. Our team is dedicated to democratizing improved diagnosis and outcomes for cancer patients across the globe. Our management team is a highly experienced group with a track record of delivery in this space second to none.
Shazi Iqbal, Ph.D
President
Dr. Iqbal has over 15 years of combined experience as a molecular diagnostics entrepreneur, public company executive and investor. Shazi is an energetic leader with an entrepreneurial vision and track record of leading cross-functional teams to build successful profitable businesses. He has founded four businesses, raised venture capital and successfully exited one. At Cepheid, he was credited for successfully developing and executing Cepheid's GeneXpert products commercialization strategy for IDNs covering 5,500+ U.S. hospitals.
Previously, as head of business development and global marketing at BioGenex, a cancer molecular diagnostic company, he expanded U.S. and international business and managed marketing and sales partnerships with global diagnostics companies. His other achievements include development of disruptive technology and IP which enabled new markets with global potential.
Dr. Iqbal has Masters degrees in Biotechnology and Biochemistry, and a Ph.D. in Biology from University of Texas at San Antonio.
Dr. Jeffery Ross
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Ross is a graduate of Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio and The State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine in Buffalo, New York. He served as an intern resident and fellow in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He was certified by the American Board of Pathology in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology in 1974. Following his training, Dr. Ross served as Chief of Pathology at the Moncrief United States Army Hospital in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. From 1977 until 1989, he was a member of the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Medical School reaching the rank of Professor and Assistant Dean while continuing as research Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1989, he became the Cyrus Strong Merrill Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Albany Medical College and Pathologist-in-Chief at the Albany Medical Center Hospital in Albany, New York.
Dr. Ross has received numerous academic awards, four patents in molecular diagnostics (including HER2 gene amplification detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization) and is the author of more than 810 peer-reviewed scientific articles and abstracts, 4 textbooks and numerous book chapters in the fields of pathology, molecular diagnostics, oncology and transitional cancer research. At Albany Medical College, Dr. Ross directs an externally funded research laboratory in molecular pathology. Dr. Ross has been a member of the NIH Clinical Oncology Study Section and serves on the editorial boards and reviewer lists of numerous scientific journals and is Associate Editor of Basic Science for for Basic Science of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology. He has served in multiple leadership positions for the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, the College of American Pathologists, the International Academy of Pathology, the Association of Pathology Chairs and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. From 1999 to 2004, Dr. Ross served as Scientific Fellow and Head of Molecular Pathology at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Cambridge, MA.
In 2004, Dr. Ross co-founded SYFR Inc., an RFID Specimen Management and IHC/ISH,/FISH autostainer company. Dr Ross is a Founding Strategic Advisor and the Medical Director for Foundation Medicine Inc. in Cambridge, MA. Dr. Ross also currently serves as consultant and/or scientific advisory board member for Roche-Genentec, Dako, Daiichi-Sankyo, Welc-Allyn, Novartis, Veridex, EMD Merck Serono, Bristol Myers Squibb, Inc, Pfizer Inc., Abbot Molecular Inc., Boehringer-Ingelheim, Medical Director of Foundation Medicine Inc., Chariman of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Albany Medical College and Pathologist in Chief at the Albany Medical Center Hospital.
PRODUCTS
SYFR has developed the next generation automated IHC, ISH/FISH staining system called LyRiC (Lyophilized Reagents in Cartridge) that uses disposable cartridge and a modular compact desktop instrument with the ability to stain 1-30 slides with random access. Each disposable cartridge contains specific primary antibody/probes, generic post-primary Ab & detection reagent. All other bulk reagents are loaded (plugged) directly into the instrument. LyRiC has no moving parts, does not need daily maintenance, and has zero downtime.
SYFR’s LyRiC Cartridge Based Slide Staining System provides the following benefits and advantages over other staining systems available on the market:
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Decentralized staining system
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Increased throughput and faster slide processing times
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Short run-time with portability for intra-operative frozen sections
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Extremely low cost per test and easy to operate.
