Diagnostics Company Detect, Inc. Adds Industry Veterans Stefan Willemsen and Jeff Hawkins to its Board of Directors

Detect, Inc., which previously commercialized FDA-authorized molecular Covid-19 Test, in late-stage development of the industry’s lowest-cost rapid molecular testing platform for infectious disease and sexual and respiratory health

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Detect Inc., a point-of-care and home diagnostics startup, announced the addition of in vitro diagnostics industry veterans, Stefan Willemsen and Jeff Hawkins, to its Board of Directors. Stefan Willemsen most recently served as President and CEO of bioMérieux for the U.S. and the Americas Region, after having led bioMérieux’s acquisition of BioFire, the leading highly multiplexed clinical diagnostics platform. Jeff Hawkins is currently President and CEO of next-generation protein sequencing company Quantum-Si and was previously President and CEO of point-of-care diagnostics company Truvian.

"We are honored to welcome to our board Stefan and Jeff, who bring significant commercial and development expertise in the diagnostics industry," said Eric Kauderer-Abrams, CEO and Co-founder of Detect, Inc. "Their support is already helping us accelerate towards the launch of what we believe will be a breakthrough product in healthcare by giving both providers and consumers faster and more affordable diagnostic results where and when they need them."

Detect is in late-stage development of its second-generation molecular diagnostics platform for the point of care and home, with an initial focus on sexual health and respiratory applications. Detect is tackling the acute need for a rapid, accurate, and inexpensive STI test that returns gold-standard results to patients within 15 minutes, in order to avoid multi-day wait times, transmission, and unnecessary antibiotic treatment leading to antibiotic resistance. The company is partnering with medical groups around the country, including Planned Parenthood, to aid in the development and validation of the platform.

“I am very excited to join the Board of Detect and have the opportunity to contribute to the team’s vision of simplifying and democratizing molecular testing,” said Stefan Willemsen. “This has been a continuous theme during my 23-year career in life science, diagnostics, and start-up financing, from the early days of real-time PCR, to the phenomenal success of the Biofire platform, to my recent work helping startups bring affordable, easy to use, and precise molecular testing to everyone.”

“I understand firsthand the challenges and opportunities involved with commercializing a diagnostic in the point-of-care market,” said Jeff Hawkins. “I am confident that Detect has the team, technology, and strategy necessary to bring this product to market, and I’m looking forward to serving on the Board of Directors.”

About Detect, Inc.

Detect is a Connecticut-based startup founded by life sciences serial entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg and consumer hardware veteran Hugo Barra, along with Eric Kauderer-Abrams, Owen Kaye-Kauderer, and Spencer Glantz. The company has raised over $100 million in capital. In 2021, Detect was one of four companies to earn an Emergency Use Authorization for a molecular over-the-counter Covid-19 test, less than 18 months after beginning development. Detect placed 30,000 Hub instruments and sold more than 250,000 tests to businesses and consumers.