Integrated Diagnostics, a Startup that Will Spot Tiny Cancers in Blood
Summary
The legendary scientific entrepreneur, who invented the high-speed DNA sequencer that made the Human Genome Project possible, wants to develop a new generation of screening tests that are so precise at examining a drop of blood that they will usher in the era of what he calls P4 medicine—shorthand for predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory medicine.Hood, who has co-founded Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI), and Rosetta Inpharmatics, among other companies, said he expects to close the initial financing for Integrated Diagnostics within a couple months.The vision here is that within five years, Integrated Diagnostics will have tests precise enough to diagnose emerging cancers so that doctors can combat them before people have physical symptoms, Hood says.That company hasn’t emerged from the Accelerator to raise more capital, and I didn’t have time to ask Hood in detail about what has changed to make Integrated Diagnostics such a compelling bet.When the company is ready to talk in more detail, it will have to answer some big questions, like how it intends to go about the Herculean task of changing the culture of medicine from a reactive one that treats serious illness, to one that thinks first about catching disease before it shows obvious physical symptoms.