Biodesix, Inc., a fully integrated molecular diagnostic company dedicated to personalizing medicine, today announced the appointment of Dominic Spinella, Ph.D., as Vice President of Clinical Development & Medical Affairs. Rounding out the management team, Dr. Spinella joins Biodesix to provide leadership for all clinical development operations. He will be based in the company’s Boulder, CO headquarters.
“We are pleased to welcome Dom to Biodesix,” said David Brunel, Biodesix’ Chief Executive Officer. “His extensive background in translational medicine and validation of clinically important biomarkers will be invaluable as we enter the next phase of our growth, and we look forward to his contribution to our future success.”
Dr. Spinella brings to Biodesix over 20 years of experience in drug development and the discipline of translational medicine. Most recently, Dom was Executive Director and Head of Translational and Molecular Medicine for the Pfizer Biotherapeutics Division. He also headed Translational Medicine for Pfizer Oncology and led the clinical and translational biomarker work for the company’s oncology portfolio. Prior to this, he spent eight years at Chugai Pharmaceuticals USA in positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as Vice President of Exploratory Research.
Dr. Spinella has served on several national and international cancer biomarker development bodies, including the Cancer Steering Committee of the NIH Biomarkers Consortium, the AACR/FDA/NCI/Cancer Biomarkers Collaborative (CBC) and the AACR Scientific Review Committee for Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development. He is an author or co-author of more than 50 peer-reviewed articles and abstracts, and principle or co-inventor of a dozen issued or pending patents. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Syracuse University, and his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in genetics and immunology respectively from Rutgers University.
About Biodesix
Biodesix is a fully integrated molecular diagnostics company advancing the development of products for personalized medicine. Biodesix developed, validated and commercialized VeriStrat®, a serum proteomic test currently available to help physicians guide therapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The test identifies patients who are likely to have good or poor outcomes after treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFRIs) using a simple blood draw. Samples are processed in Biodesix’ CLIA –certified laboratory and results are typically reported within 72 hours of sample shipment. VeriStrat is based on ProTS®, proprietary technology which harnesses the power of mass spectrometry and enables the discovery of specific molecular profiles that characterize a patient’s condition or likely outcome in response to therapy. Biodesix collaborates with clinical investigators to address critical clinical questions, and partners with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to develop diagnostics to select patients most likely to benefit from novel therapies. For more information about Biodesix, please visit www.Biodesix.com.