GnuBio, a Harvard spinout, aims to become an "eBay of Biomarkers"

GnuBio is a new Harvard University spinout that is poised to become an "eBay of Biomarkers," according to founder John Boyce. Boyce, who spent several years at Cambridge-based genome sequencer Helicos Biosciences Corp., has joined with Harvard professor of physics and engineering Dave Weitz and Jessica Tonani, former associate director of product marketing for Santa Clara, Calif.-based gene sequencing company Affymetrix Inc., to create a company that is part genome sequencing, part database management, part social network. It promises to join together millions of biologicial samples that are currently siloed at institutes around the world, and to do it using an open source platform.

The company currently works out of Weitz' lab at Harvard and has licensed a suite of intellectual property from Harvard that, together with other intellectual property Boyce brought to the table, enables the company's business model. Boyce said the company is currently considering term sheets from venture capital firms and will likely announce a Series A round in the next few weeks. Boyce declined to say how large he expected the raise to be, or how many firms might make up the syndicate. The company has sold the first two prototypes of its gene sequencer, which, at $45,000, is significantly cheaper than others currently available commercially.

Read the full article in Mass High Tech