Could a $127M Seed Round Change Women's Health Forever? - Dean Remy, Co-Founder @ Mativa Dx

In this episode of Diagnosing Dx, David Filby is joined by Ana Cornell, Founder and CEO of Acorn Genetics. Ana started Acorn after experiencing first-hand how expensive and inaccessible genomic testing could be. While studying biomedical engineering at Northwestern, she began developing lower-cost genomic analysis technology before being selected for the highly competitive Thiel Fellowship, which gave her the opportunity to leave university and build Acorn full-time. The company’s long-term goal is to decentralise genomic analysis, bringing testing out of central laboratories and making it dramatically more accessible. But the route to that goal hasn’t been conventional. When regulatory changes disrupted Acorn’s original clinical launch plans, the company pivoted its technology into brewing, agriculture and water testing, finding early product-market fit, generating revenue and continuing to develop its sequencing platform. Ana shares why revenue has become central to Acorn’s strategy, how the company is approaching profitability, and why she still sees decentralised genomic analysis as the ultimate destination. Key takeaways: 🔹 Why Ana started Acorn Genetics after struggling to access genomic testing herself 🔹 How Acorn is working to decentralise genomic analysis 🔹 Why a regulatory roadblock led the company into brewing, agriculture and water testing 🔹 How early revenue and customer feedback are helping fund the bigger sequencing vision 🔹 Why Ana believes genomic analysis could eventually cost just dollars, or even pennies Chapters: 01:04 Introduction and Ana Cornell’s background 02:31 The personal problem that led to Acorn Genetics 07:14 From university research to the Thiel Fellowship 13:42 Building Acorn and finding product-market fit 18:20 Why agriculture became the route to early revenue 21:29 The long-term vision for decentralised genomics 25:00 Driving down the cost of genomic analysis 28:03 Revenue, profitability and the milestones ahead Guest: Ana Cornell Founder & CEO, Acorn Genetics LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-cornell-53103a138/ Host: David Filby Founder and CEO of Elevra Consulting LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidfilby/ Support Acorn Genetics Acorn Genetics’ crowdfunding campaign is now open. Learn more and invest here: https://www.startengine.com/offering/acorn-genetics 🔔 Subscribe to Diagnosing Dx for weekly conversations with leaders shaping the future of diagnostics and omics.

In this episode of Diagnosing Dx, David Filby is joined by Kavya Swaminathan, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO of Kascaid. An immunologist and proteomics scientist by training, Kavya has spent her career studying immune dysregulation and biomarker discovery. That experience led to Kascaid and a fundamental question: can we understand chronic immune disease better by measuring what is happening far more frequently? Kavya explains why the company is turning to interstitial fluid (ISF) as an alternative to traditional blood sampling, and how higher-frequency immune measurements could help clinicians understand treatment response, detect disease changes earlier and move away from today’s trial-and-error approach to care. We also discuss Kascaid’s plans for at-home sampling, its longer-term ambition to build a longitudinal immune data layer, and how partnerships with patients and clinicians are shaping the product from the earliest stages. Key takeaways: 🔹 Why chronic immune disease needs more frequent and actionable biomarker data 🔹 The limitations Kavya sees in conventional blood-based immune measurements 🔹 Why interstitial fluid could enable higher-frequency monitoring 🔹 How Kascaid is initially focusing on treatment response and disease progression 🔹 Why longitudinal immune data could eventually support earlier diagnosis and more precise treatment Chapters: 01:07 Introduction 02:43 Kavya’s journey from immunology to diagnostics 07:08 Kascaid and the chronic immune disease problem 10:39 Why interstitial fluid instead of traditional blood testing? 15:06 Monitoring treatment response more frequently 19:26 Building a longitudinal immune data layer 25:05 Company milestones, partnerships and early validation 32:40 FDA, reimbursement and the path to market Guest: Kavya Swaminathan, PhD Co-Founder & CEO, Kascaid LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kavya-swaminathan/ Host: David Filby Founder and CEO of Elevra Consulting LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidfilby/ 🔔 Subscribe to Diagnosing Dx for weekly conversations with leaders shaping the future of diagnostics and omics.

In this episode of Diagnosing Dx, David Filby is joined by Paul Kase, Chief Commercial Officer at Lumos Diagnostics. Paul brings 30 years of healthcare experience, including more than 20 years in rapid point-of-care diagnostics. His history with FebriDx stretches back to its earliest development, and he now leads commercialisation as Lumos enters a major new phase following its US CLIA waiver. Paul explains how FebriDx uses two host-response biomarkers to help differentiate bacterial from non-bacterial infections from a finger-stick blood sample in around 10 minutes, without instrumentation. We also discuss antibiotic stewardship, reimbursement, integrating novel tests into existing clinical workflows, and the commercial strategy Lumos is using to drive adoption across urgent care and primary care. Key takeaways: 🔹 Why the CLIA waiver represents such an important commercial milestone for FebriDx 🔹 How CRP and MxA are used to differentiate bacterial from non-bacterial infection 🔹 Why overlapping respiratory symptoms can contribute to unnecessary antibiotic prescribing 🔹 The three pillars Paul believes every novel point-of-care diagnostic needs to address 🔹 How Lumos is approaching reimbursement, distribution and adoption in the US Chapters: 01:07 Introduction and Paul Kase’s background 05:43 Lumos Diagnostics and the FebriDx CLIA waiver 08:03 How FebriDx works and the unmet need 09:54 Changing the respiratory testing workflow 14:27 Clinical utility, workflow and reimbursement 20:21 Commercialisation, adoption and distribution 25:14 International expansion and future markets 30:53 Future milestones and driving commercial growth Guest: Paul Kase Chief Commercial Officer, Lumos Diagnostics LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-kase-8bb96159/ Host: David Filby Founder and CEO of Elevra Consulting LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidfilby/ 🔔 Subscribe to Diagnosing Dx for weekly conversations with leaders shaping the future of diagnostics and omics.

In this episode of Diagnosing Dx, David Filby is joined by Marty Keiser, Founder and CEO of IVBH. After beginning his career in asset management and capital markets, Marty moved into biotech eight years ago with a focus on blood-based molecular diagnostics and early disease detection. That outside perspective shaped how he built IVBH, borrowing ideas from industries beyond diagnostics to create a different model for developing and scaling diagnostic companies. Marty explains IVBH’s studio model, the science behind its cell-free RNA platform, and how its health franchises are developing tests across breast cancer, lung cancer and metabolic liver disease. We also discuss why traditional diagnostics business models can struggle, the growing opportunity for cash-pay and consumerised testing, and what helped Mammogen secure institutional Series A funding in a difficult market. Key takeaways: 🔹 Why Marty believes the traditional diagnostics business model needs to evolve 🔹 How IVBH uses a central discovery platform to build multiple health franchises 🔹 Why cell-free RNA could offer advantages for earlier disease detection 🔹 How LDTs, cash-pay models and new diagnostic “storefronts” could reshape commercialisation 🔹 What investors looked for when Mammogen raised its Series A Chapters: 01:02 Introduction and Marty Keiser’s background 03:22 Moving from capital markets into diagnostics 08:20 Building the IVBH business model differently 11:27 Surviving the biotech downturn and changing capital markets 16:09 The science behind IVBH’s cell-free RNA platform 20:06 LDTs, cash-pay testing and new commercial models 26:13 What helped Mammogen secure its Series A 30:26 Future milestones and rethinking diagnostics growth Guest: Marty Keiser Founder & CEO, IVBH LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martykeiser Host: David Filby Founder and CEO of Elevra Consulting LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidfilby/ 🔔 Subscribe to Diagnosing Dx for weekly conversations with leaders shaping the future of diagnostics and omics.

In this episode of Diagnosing Dx, David Filby is joined by Raymond Tarr, Founder of Sagacity Diagnostics. Raymond brings more than 25 years of experience across diagnostics, rare disease, commercialisation and patient finding, with previous roles spanning companies including Cepheid and AstraZeneca/Alexion. His experience in rare disease, both professionally and personally, ultimately led to the creation of Sagacity Diagnostics and its PathfindEHR platform. Raymond explains how PathfindEHR is designed to help clinicians identify patients who may be undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or missing the right testing by making better use of data already sitting within electronic health records. We also discuss the adoption challenge facing diagnostics companies, how better workflow integration could drive more appropriate testing, and why education and awareness can be just as important as developing the test itself. Key takeaways: 🔹 Why existing EHR data could help shorten the diagnostic journey 🔹 How PathfindEHR helps identify suspect and potentially misdiagnosed patients 🔹 Why better workflow integration can increase appropriate diagnostic testing 🔹 How diagnostics companies can benefit from stronger clinician education and adoption tools 🔹 Why rare disease is only the starting point for Sagacity’s wider ambitions Chapters: 00:59 Introduction and Raymond Tarr’s background 05:46 Moving from diagnostics into rare disease 08:57 The personal experience behind Sagacity Diagnostics 11:00 How PathfindEHR works 17:49 Using EHR data to identify patients who need testing 23:16 How diagnostics companies can benefit from the platform 29:16 Commercialisation and early market traction 34:40 Future milestones and scaling Sagacity Guest: Raymond Tarr Founder, Sagacity Diagnostics LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymondtarr/ Host: David Filby Founder and CEO of Elevra Consulting LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidfilby/ 🔔 Subscribe to Diagnosing Dx for weekly conversations with leaders shaping the future of diagnostics and omics.