3EO Health licenses Wyss Institute technology from Harvard University and…

Benjamin Boettner, Wyss Institute

Harvard’s Wyeth Institute for Biotechnology and 3EO Health Inc. today announced that the company has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Harvard’s Office of Technology Development (OTD). , a PCR-grade nucleic acid detection technique developed by Wyss core faculty member Dr. Peng Yin and his research team at the Wyss Institute. Intended as a first product for ambulatory COVID-19 testing, the company will use the technology and additional components to build a digital platform that allows patients to access self-tests, results, information, and doctors for faster, more efficient testing. We aim to make many things possible. effective self-care.

“In order to optimize the value of the test, the test must be easy to use, affordable, fast and accurate. When it comes to home testing for COVID, existing antigen tests have low sensitivity, molecular tests We have developed a simple, rapid testing platform that promises to achieve PCR-level accuracy at antigen-level costs,” 3EO Health’s. “We hope this platform will help address diagnostic needs in the current pandemic, and we hope it will find broader applications in other infectious diseases and beyond.”

Yin is also Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and previously co-founded startups Ultivue Inc., NuProbe Global, Torus Biosystems Inc., Spear Bio Inc., and Digital Biology Inc. Commercialize the technology his group developed at Wyss Laboratories.

“At 3EO, we are interested in improving the future of the healthcare system and the pathways to health and care. It could emerge,” said Jeremy Schubert, MBA, MPH, CEO of 3EO Health. Schubert has held multiple sales and leadership positions in multiple divisions at Abbott and has expertise in improving health system performance, social determinants of public health, and building healthier communities. I’m here.

Several researchers from Yin’s team who were closely involved in its development joined 3EO Health to advance Wyss’ technology toward clinical validation and commercialization. A former senior scientist in Yin’s group and his lead on the staff of the Wyss Molecular Robotics Initiative, Thomas Schhaus, MD, Ph.D., who has led numerous DNA nanotechnology-led projects, is now Director of Research at 3EO. Nikhil Gopalkrishnan, Ph.D., an expert in DNA nanotechnology and computer science and physics.

“Our core nucleic acid detection technology evolved as a combination of biochemical and mechanical inventions,” said Schaus. The team has invented an innovative molecular assay that detects SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens with high speed, sensitivity and specificity. To enable molecular assays to be performed at home with minimal user input, researchers devised a reusable base unit and pathogen-specific disposable consumables and prototyped the combined technology at the Wyss Institute. did. Subsequent work at 3EO Health fully integrated the assay and device components, improved the speed and signal output of the evolved assay method, and transformed the prototype into an inexpensive, reliable and manufacturable detection system. .

“COVID-19 has forced us to redirect and refocus our efforts to develop breakthrough technologies that can solve pressing problems for the benefit of public health during this pandemic. , applying the same technology, has begun to conquer many other fields of medicine and healthcare.The diagnostic platform created by Peng Yin’s team at Wyss’ Molecular Robotics Initiative and now commercialized by 3EO Health. is a compelling example of incredible potential. Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Harvard University originally granted 3EO Health non-exclusive access to this technology for a limited time, pursuant to the university’s commitment to the COVID-19 Technology Access Framework. The Framework will enable broad access to emerging technologies to foster rapid innovation in pursuit of solutions to combat the pandemic.

Beyond its initial COVID-19 application, 3EO Health aims to power its portable, highly sensitive nucleic acid detection platform in the digital health environment. This will enable more comprehensive telemedicine applications and improve decision-making processes related to doctor and hospital visits and prescriptions. .