Company
MISSION: To standardize pre-analytical sample handling. We develop and provide products that eliminate variability in common laboratory procedures. Our product lines are marketed globally through an extensive distributor network and have been readily adopted by the leading institutions in the biotech, pharmaceutical, clinical, diagnostic, academic and government scientific community.
Founded by a group of scientists, biomedical engineers, and drug discovery experts, our patent-pending products enable researchers to achieve pre-analytical sample reproducibility and consistency – experiment to experiment, lab to lab and site to site. Our products are applicable to a wide array of scientific disciplines including cell and tissue culture and cryopreservation, histology, immunohistochemistry, virus and bacterial research, molecular biology, cell therapy, pharmaceutical manufacturing, biofuels research and many others.
BioCision’s first products, the CoolRack® line, were made from a novel aluminum alloy that is 300 times more conductive than ice and adapts rapidly to the temperature of any freezing or cooling medium. The CoolRack® line includes thermo-conductive modules that hold tube or plate samples of different sizes to standardize temperature control right at the benchtop. Subsequent product lines include CoolBox™portable ice-free cooling and freezing devices and CoolCell®, a novel cell freezing device for blood, stem cells, cord blood and cell lines, as well as a line of TruCool™ consumables.
BioCision is entering into a new phase of novel product development collaboration with many distinguished companies and institutions in the area of sample handling and shipping. The company and its products were recently featured in SCIENCE, NATURE, and Genetic Engineering News.
BioCision is represented by the largest life science distributors in the world (Fisher Scientific, VWR International, Sanyo Biomedical) and many small regional distributors worldwide.
MANAGEMENT TEAM ↑ top
Rolf Ehrhardt, MD, PhD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Hugh Douglas
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Douglas most recently led Bridge4Bio, LLC, a global business consulting group. Previously, he was managing director and president of Hoefer, Inc., a part of Harvard Bioscience. Mr. Douglas was also vice president of the West Coast operations for Amersham Biosciences, now a part of GE Healthcare. He has been involved in start-ups, acquisitions and spin-outs and has broad experience in managing companies for growth and success. Mr. Douglas holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and earned his M.B.A. from Golden Gate University.
Ron DiNocco
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. DiNocco joined Biocision in 2008 managing corporate finance development with responsibility for long term capital strategy and investor relations. From 2000-2008 he served multiple leadership roles at Akiva Corporation, including CFO and CEO, while achieving global expansion through new customer and government relationships. During this time, Ron was able to successfully close an institutional Series A round and negotiated the acquisition of a division of O'Reilly and Associates. He holds a bachelor's degree from Babson College and has also completed International Business studies at the University of Monash in Australia. Mr. DiNocco serves on the board of Tech Coast Angels and is an active supporter of early stage companies.
Brian Schryver
Vice President, Product Development
Mr. Schryver co-founded BioCision in 2007, after a 25-year career in molecular biological research and development. He has extensive experience developing instruments and tooling for the life science field. Prior to co-founding BioCision, Mr. Schryver was a scientist at CFD Therapeutics Inc. and worked in topical formulation and assay development at Corgentech, now Anesiva. Mr. Schryver also was involved in preclinical development and biomarker research at SUGEN, and discovery research at Syntex.
Michelle Nemits
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Ms. Nemits joined BioCision in early 2008, with almost 20 years of experience in sales of laboratory products and services. Before joining BioCision she was director of business development at VWR International LLC, a global laboratory supply distributor, where she forged partnerships with global biopharmaceutical customers with complex supply chain requirements. During her 11-year tenure at VWR, Ms. Nemits held various sales and management positions in the global accounts division. Prior to joining VWR, she held sales and marketing positions with Wheaton Science Products of Millville, New Jersey, and Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha, a Japanese chemical manufacturer with U.S. sales operations based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Maria Thompson, PhD
Vice President, Scientific Affairs
Dr. Maria Thompson has a background in molecular genetics and over 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical and diagnostics research and development. She has held a variety of roles including Head of Genome Wide Screening for Type 2 diabetes, Six Sigma Black Belt, Principal Consultant, and Head of Scientific Affairs, as well as running a private consulting company providing scientific and technical advisory services to clients across the life science industry. Dr. Thompson holds a BSc in Genetics and a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry from the Royal London School of Medicine, UK.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS ↑ top
Rolf Ehrhardt, MD, PhD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Rolf Ehrhardt brings more than 25 years of experience in leadership and innovation in life science research, products, and pre-clinical and clinical drug development to BioCision. Prior to growing BioCision into the leading provider of bench-top sample handling solutions, he was responsible for the early (phase 1a) clinical development of a novel HCV protease inhibitor at Intermune. Before that, Dr. Ehrhardt was the vice president of preclinical development at Corgentech, now Anesiva. He was the founding president of BioSeek, where he raised close to $20 million in private financing. Prior to founding BioSeek, Dr. Ehrhardt led a scientific group focused on new target discovery/validation and development of immunotherapeutics at Protein Design Labs (now PDL BioPharma Inc.). Dr. Ehrhardt was a Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG: German Research Foundation) and Fogarty Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, where his focus was on mucosal immunology and inflammatory bowel disease. He has authored more than 40 peer reviewed publications and holds multiple patents. Dr. Ehrhardt earned his medical and doctoral degrees with distinction from the Technical University of Munich, Germany.
Paul Nowak – CEO of Biotix Holdings
Mr. Nowak joined Biotix Holdings in April 2007. Prior to that, he was the Chief Operating Officer of Symyx Technologies, a Silicon Valley manufacturer of high-throughput robotics and developer of software applications for R&D. He spent the majority of his career (26 years) at VWR International, a global distributor of laboratory supplies where he held many positions during his tenure, including CEO and President. Mr. Nowak was one of the key leaders that transformed VWR into a $2.8 billion company.
Blair W. Stewart, JD – Legal Advisor
Mr. Stewart, a former corporate partner of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, has practiced corporate, securities and business law in Silicon Valley for more than 35 years, offering strategic business and legal advice to emerging biotechnology and high technology companies. He practiced at Wilson, Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati from 1976 to 2001, becoming a partner in 1983. Since 2001 he has conducted a private legal practice as well as co-founding an angel-investor and venture-capital-backed biotechnology company, now in clinical trials. He has advised both for-profit and non-profit companies in regulatory and corporate governance, and is experienced in public and private financings, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property and licensing, and domestic and international joint ventures. Mr. Stewart holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Stanford Law School and a Bachelor of Science from the United States Naval Academy.
Brian Schryver
Vice President, Product Development
Mr. Schryver co-founded BioCision in 2007, after a 25-year career in molecular biological research and development. He has extensive experience developing instruments and tooling for the life science field. Prior to co-founding BioCision, Mr. Schryver was a scientist at CFD Therapeutics Inc. and worked in topical formulation and assay development at Corgentech, now Anesiva. Mr. Schryver also was involved in preclinical development and biomarker research at SUGEN, and discovery research at Syntex.
Hugh Douglas
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Douglas most recently led Bridge4Bio, LLC, a global business consulting group. Previously, he was managing director and president of Hoefer, Inc., a part of Harvard Bioscience. Mr. Douglas was also vice president of the West Coast operations for Amersham Biosciences, now a part of GE Healthcare. He has been involved in start-ups, acquisitions and spin-outs and has broad experience in managing companies for growth and success. Mr. Douglas holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and earned his M.B.A. from Golden Gate University.