Veteran entrepreneur and molecular medical geneticist appointed as Transformative Biotech's Co-CEO and Director

BOULDER, Colo., May 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Transformative Biotech, LLC (T-Bio), a molecular diagnostics technology company, today announced the appointment of Dr. Barbara Handelin as Co-CEO and to its Board of Directors. Transformative Biotech, LLC is a licensing firm enabling the transition of PCR from a laboratory-based technology to an @ANYWHERE technology for the detection of infectious diseases and cancer.

Dr. Handelin will share the CEO role with Russ Hullet, a co-founder of Transformative Biotech. Dr. Handelin, who helped to found Integrated Genetics DNA Diagnostic Labs in 1987 as the world's first commercial clinical genetics testing lab, brings 35 years of experience in genetic disease diagnostics.

"Having been active in the nascent days of the clinical use of PCR technology, it is thrilling to join Transformative Biotech as they introduce possibly the most impactful development in this fundamental technology since its invention. Eliminating DNA extraction as a required step before PCR reactions could have a clinical impact similar to the first self-administered pregnancy tests or the first automated blood chemistry instruments. These developments lessened or removed the need for professional lab technologists to prepare human medical samples before testing while maintaining accuracy and reliability. In the same way this was democratizing and so will "direct-to-PCR" be for analyzing DNA for applications in medicine, agriculture, military, public health, and veterinary medicine," said Dr. Handelin. Her full bio can be found on Transformative Biotech's Team Page.

Handelin will assume co-executive leadership with CEO Russ Hullet, providing strategic leadership to the T-Bio team to complement Hullet's operational lead role. The company is pursuing a licensing business model to enable the broadest uptake of direct-to-PCR worldwide. T-Bio is also piloting @Anywhere devices for infectious diseases, wherein saliva samples can be used directly to detect viruses and bacteria. "We are focusing on highest unmet needs in viral infection detection where personal, rapid and sensitive test results are critical for protecting against societal spread," says the company's Executive Chair, Bob Blomquist. "Home testing for COVID-19 helped individuals to manage their own exposures; the world has learned that this is now an essential public health tool." 

"Sexually transmitted diseases and common upper respiratory viral diseases are areas of great unmet need for rapid, highly accurate detection," Handelin adds. "This is as exciting as when multiplex PCR testing met the needs of testing for complex genetic disorders such as Cystic Fibrosis and then cancer in the 1990s as our understanding of human genetics exploded."

"I am honored that Barbara, with such a deeply relevant career, has high confidence in our technologies and venture. Her role will be instrumental in driving our success," said Russ Hullet, Co-CEO.

About Transformative Biotech
Transformative Biotech is a startup biotechnology company focused on deploying its rapid, highly accurate, direct-to-PCR technologies with the power to transform molecular testing for infectious diseases and cancer.

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SOURCE Transformative Biotech, LLC