Biotechnology company joins roster of residents at HudsonAlpha
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. –“We’re here to support researchers across the life sciences through provision of specific, reliable and cost effective tools,” said Blake Simmons, chief executive officer of newly launched transOMIC technologies.
Those tools are products for gene manipulation and include new and state-of-the-art RNA interference (RNAi) collections for gene knockdown, large libraries of genes for over-expression and innovative products for RNAi screening. The company’s business model is based on commercializing products like these created through collaboration with leading research labs thus providing worldwide access to new technologies. The company plans to expand its portfolio through continued acquisition of new technology.
The leadership team at transOMIC technologies is not new to Huntsville or the biotechnology industry. Simmons, Gwen Fewell, Ph.D., chief commercial officer and Rusla Du Breuil, Ph.D., chief technology officer were coworkers at homegrown Open Biosystems, as well as coworkers through the acquisition of Open Biosystems by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2008. Du Breuil and Simmons also spent time together at Research Genetics, the Huntsville-based biotechnology company founded by Jim Hudson that grew to be the world’s leading supplier of genetic linkage products and an integral partner in the Human Genome Project.
According to Simmons, going from coworkers to cofounders of a biotech company was facilitated by the surroundings at the HudsonAlpha Institute. “Our product portfolio is reliant on close collaborations with leading academic researchers. The resources at the institute and the relationships that have been nurtured over the years and across organizations made the leap to entrepreneur a bit less daunting.”
Among those ties, transOMIC technologies and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have partnered to commercialize next-generation, vector-based tools for RNAi that target human and mouse genomes.
The new company will also be an archive site for high quality gene collections for the National Institutes of Health. The Mammalian Gene Collection, Xenopus Gene Collection, Zebrafish Gene Collection and Bovine Gene Collection were generated by the NIH to provide the research community with valuable reagents for the study of protein structure and function. “We are pleased that transOMIC technologies has agreed to be an archive site,” said Daniela Gerhard, Ph.D., director of the Office of Cancer Genomics at the National Cancer Institute.
“We believe deeply in the power of science and technology to advance our understanding of biological systems,” said Fewell. “By addressing the needs of researchers and providing leading edge technologies with a focus on value and customer support, we become a real partner in discovery across the genome.”
About transOMIC technologies
transOMIC technologies is a newly founded biotechnology company focused on providing the life science research market with innovative technologies and research tools to accelerate the quest towards elucidating the complexity of life and human disease. These research tools for gene manipulation provide investigators with high-quality genes, RNAi tools and delivery reagents for gene function analysis in relation to oncology, neuroscience and metabolic disorders.
For more information, visit transOMIC technologies’ website:
http://www.transomic.com
About RNAi
RNAi is a natural cellular mechanism implicated in genome defense, when small RNA molecules act to regulate gene expression.
Contact Information
Gwen D. Fewell, PhD
Chief Commercial Officer
256-327-9511
gwen@transomic.com