Scope Biosciences raises €1M funding in a partnership with GenDx; experts in transplant diagnostics
WAGENINGEN, 29th October 2021 - Diagnostic startup company Scope Biosciences B.V. has raised €1M funding from Utrecht based GenDx, specialized in Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) products for transplant diagnostics.
Elaborating on the work of Dutch Spinoza-winning scientist prof. dr. John van der Oost and ass. prof. dr. Raymond Staals at Wageningen University, Scope Biosciences applies CRISPR-Cas’ inherent specificity and ease of use to develop a molecular diagnostic platform. This will revolutionize the field of diagnostics as the simplicity of the assay promises to bring highly accurate molecular diagnostics outside the research laboratory like clinical bedside applications.
Scope Biosciences will benefit from GenDx’ experience to speed up developing and marketing the ScopeDx platform. Furthermore, Scope Biosciences plans to use the funding to grow its research and development team, and expand on the running partnerships in the development of rapid diagnostics for infectious diseases in healthcare, veterinary and agri-food applications.
The collaboration with GenDx is mutually beneficial, as it will entail a co-development trajectory to develop ScopeDx applications for transplant diagnostics.
Dr. Wietse Mulder, CEO of GenDx, commented: “We are excited to collaborate with such a motivated and energetic team of Scope Biosciences that is supported by WUR, the renowned scientists Van der Oost and Staals and the seasoned businessmen Math Kohnen and Wil Hazenberg. We truly believe that together with them both Scope Biosciences and GenDx will be able to deliver meaningful products to the field of diagnostics based on CRISPR-Cas technology.”
Niek Savelkoul, CEO of Scope Biosciences, commented: “The proprietary ScopeDx CRISPR-diagnostic platform has shown its incredible potential in various applications in the last 3 years of its development, and with this investment we can bring the first ScopeDx products to the market. We are delighted to see such excitement from GenDx who recognize the potential of the ScopeDx platform technology. We are looking forward to working with and learning from this leading provider of transplant diagnostics.”
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About CRISPR-Cas
CRISPR-Cas is considered to be one of the most revolutionizing discoveries in the biotech sector. CRISPR-Cas’ most valuable characteristic is its native ability to precisely detect and cut specific sequences of genetic material for use in genetic engineering. Developments in recent years have also shown the merits of this technology in the use of molecular diagnostics. Fundamental discoveries made by Van der Oost’s research group have revealed how the CRISPR-Cas system contributes to the bacterial anti-viral defense mechanism. He identified various enzymes and molecular signaling pathways that make this defense possible. These discoveries play a fundamental role in the extensive application of CRISPR-Cas today.
About Scope Biosciences B.V.
Scope Biosciences is a Dutch company, specializing in the development of molecular diagnostics using CRISPR-Cas. It is a spin-off of Wageningen University & Research and was founded in 2020 by, Jurre Steens, Niek Savelkoul, Bart Scholten and Stijn Prinsen. They got support from seasoned entrepreneurs Math Kohnen and Wil Hazenberg. The idea to set up Scope Biosciences originated in close collaboration with the Laboratory of Microbiology, at the department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences at Wageningen University & Research. Van der Oost and Staals both act as co-founders and will continue as Scientific advisors to support Scope Biosciences. The ScopeDx technology was co-developed with Wageningen University & Research, which is exclusively licensed to Scope Biosciences.
About GenDx
Genome Diagnostics B.V., also known as GenDx, is a Dutch company, specialized in molecular diagnostics, focused on development, production and sales of innovative assays and analysis software for transplantation and companion diagnostics. GenDx also has a USA-based office near O’Hare airport, Chicago, IL.
GenDx specializes in HLA sequencing-based typing strategies and offers reagents and software for both Sanger and NGS approaches. Additionally, GenDx offers post transplantation products for chimerism monitoring by qPCR and NGS. Thanks to its extensive in-house expertise, GenDx also offers custom laboratory services for basic and clinical research organizations. GenDx Education organizes dedicated HLA sequence-based typing and chimerism monitoring training courses and webinars worldwide on a regular basis for anyone working in tissue typing or research laboratories, blood banks, and donor registries.
GenDx is based at the Utrecht Science Park, the Netherlands and was founded in 2005 by Erik Rozemuller PhD, Wietse Mulder PhD and UMC Utrecht Holdings B.V. represented by Oscar Schoots PhD and Raoul Linschoten LLM. In 2019, Ampersand Capital Partners completed a minority growth equity investment in the company. In august 2021, Martijn Mulder MSc. and Bob van Gemen PhD joined the GenDx Board of directors. For further information about GenDx go to www.GenDx.com.
