Seegene develops highly multiplexed diagnostic tests that enable cost-effective, responsive, and tailored patient care
John G. Hurrell
Senior Executive Vice President
Professional
Joined Seegene at the start of 2013; previously worked for Quest Diagnostics, and most recently was the General Manager of the Focus Diagnostics subsidiary
Education
PhD from Melbourne University; also received a Fulbright Fellowship to do postdoctoral research with Professor Ed Haber at Massachusetts General Hospital
Personal
“When I get the opportunity, I enjoy sailing and I work out regularly in the gym.”
The Seegene business is focused on the Molecular Diagnostics segment of the IVD industry. Since Seegene’s founding, our priority has been to continually push the boundaries of technological innovation in the areas of amplification and detection of nucleic acids. It has been Seegene’s goal to develop molecular tests and molecular diagnostic tests that enable cost-effective, responsive and tailored patient care in the clinic. Using our highly multiplexed diagnostic tests, physicians can now gain accurate and actionable information about a patient’s symptoms within hours, utilizing a wide array of sample types.
Major categories and technology solutions provided to its customers. Seegene’s latest real-time solution, called TOCE™, allows for the simultaneous detection and/or differentiation of up to 20 analytes on an existing four-color real-time instrument. This technology solution can provide a competitive edge in the areas of infectious diseases, pharmacogenomics, companion diagnostics, genetics, and oncology, among others.
Seegene’s technology solutions are robust and platform agnostic, and capable of turning any multiple color real-time PCR instrument into a powerful multiplexing platform. Our technologies enable complex multiplexing in a single fluorescence channel, while providing consistent Tm values regardless of the sequence variation of the target. They do all of this with a level of sensitivity better than that of any currently utilized probe-based single-plex real-time PCR assay.
Seegene products provide solutions to laboratories wanting a low-cost means for multiplexed assays; assays which are simple to set up and interpret; accurate and sensitive results; and fast turnaround times.
Our current assay menu ranges from detection of the causative agents of respiratory diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, gastroenteritis, and cervical cancer, to screening for sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis virus A, B, and C, and multidrug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. More than 480 internationally published papers underscore the strength of Seegene’s technologies in pathogen identification, such as the MagicPlex™ Sepsis Test, which is capable of detecting and distinguishing 90 sepsis pathogens and three antibiotic resistance genes in a simple two-step assay.
Seegene’s molecular diagnostic kits are compatible with a wide range of instrumentation, providing flexibility for customized development. The Seegene technologies offer a tremendous advantage in the development of low-cost multiplexed assays. As reimbursement decreases globally and the demand for molecular diagnostic tests increases, our technologies will provide clinical labs with low-cost analytical solutions for multiplexed results.
The evolution of Seegene products has focused on the provision of low-cost, highly effective multiplexed results to meet customer needs. A wonderful example of this is in the development of our MTB XDR test, which addresses the growing demand for low-cost multidrug resistant MTB testing. Likewise, we have recently developed a test for HPV called HPV28, which tests for the 28 high risk serotypes of HPV. Customer reaction to these tests has been outstanding.
Seegene has many products approved for sale in Europe and Asia and is looking at entering the U.S. market and exploring options which include forming partnerships with companies with complementary strengths.
How Mr. Hurrel’s experience has prepared him for his new role at Seegene. Everything I have done in the past is relevant to my new role. Seegene is a young, growing company making the transition from a local Asian company to a player in the broad global markets. My experience managing global businesses, starting companies as an entrepreneur, and serving as a manager in multinational major companies allows me to bring a wealth of experience into Seegene. A major part of my role is to be a mentor to the young executives growing along with the company.
Directions that the company may be taking in the near future. The company is continuing to innovate under the leadership of Dr. Jong-Yoon Chun. We are looking to move the innovations into the market while expanding the global penetration of the products we have available. We are developing strong technology partnerships via licensing agreements that allow our partners to take advantage of our innovation. Our highest priorities at present are continuing to build technology and global distribution partnerships, making our products available in the U.S., and menu expansion.
