February 26, 2024 • 20 mins
In this episode we interview Mark McDonough, the CEO of ChromaCode. The episode explores McDonough's journey to ChromaCode, from his early career as a naval officer to his roles at various medical and diagnostic companies. Under McDonough's leadership, ChromaCode has excelled in creating a high-definition PCR platform which enables fast, accurate, and affordable cancer diagnosis. The platform is particularly beneficial as it requires less patient tissue, provides rapid results, and has a lower cost than traditional diagnostic methods. McDonough also discusses the importance of partnerships in their go-to-market strategy and shared his insights on hiring and team development in today's competitive market. Looking ahead, ChromaCode expects to become a leader in developing innovative products for disease diagnosis, with a focus on patient-centered outcomes.
https://www.chromacode.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mcdonough-b1055216/
00:00 Introduction to the Podcast
00:40 Meet the Guest: Mark McDonough, CEO of ChromaCode
01:47 Mark's Journey to ChromaCode
06:05 Insights on Leadership and Building High Performing Teams
08:10 ChromaCode's Innovative Approach to PCR Testing
10:36 ChromaCode's Contribution to Precision Medicine
13:50 The Importance of Partnerships in ChromaCode's Strategy
16:33 Future Prospects for ChromaCode
18:27 Getting to Know Mark: Personal Interests
19:13 Closing Remarks and Contact Information
About Mark McDonough
Mark has over 25 years of experience helping build high growth HealthCare organizations. He is passionate about his team, his customers, and the patients that he and they are privileged to help serve. He most recently was the CEO of Pierian (now Velsera) which he led to a successful sale to Summa Equity, a private equity firm, in 2022. Prior to Pierian, he led CombiMatrix for five years, culminating in a sale to Invitae in 2017. Over his career, Mark has held various executive and commercial positions, and served as a US Naval Officer.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hi there! Welcome to the FromLab to Launch podcast by Qualio,
where we share inspiring storiesfrom the people on the front
lines of life sciences.
Tune in and leave inspired tobring your life saving products
to the world.
Meg Sinclair (00:17):
Hi, everyone.
And thanks for tuning in to FromLab to Launch by Qualio.
I'm Meg, your host.
Glad to be here and reallyexcited about today's episode.
Before we get started, we'd loveit if you rated the podcast.
It's easy to do and share itwith any of your science nerd
friends.
We know you've got some.
If you'd like to be on the show,please see the show notes for an
application.
(00:40):
Mark McDonough is the CEO ofChromaCode, where he and his
team have created an innovative,high definition PCR platform
that utilizes proprietary cloudbased signal processing to allow
for enhanced multiplexing anddetection of clinically relevant
biomarkers.
This rapid and accurate approachgenerates higher throughput from
(01:02):
existing laboratory equipmentfor broad biomarker testing
without the cost delay, oranalytical complexity of next
generation sequencing.
Under the leadership of CEO,mark Crow coma has, excuse me,
chroma code has pivoted stronglyafter winning the xprize.
Rapid Covid testing competitionin 2021 to oncology commercially
(01:26):
launched their non-small celllung cancer se.
and develop partnerships withprotein, bio diagnostics, and
with MedGenome, the latter in aneffort to bring affordable
diagnostics to India and theMiddle East.
So let's get to it.
Welcome to From Lab to Launch,Mark.
Mark McDonough (01:44):
Uh, thanks Meg.
I'm happy to be here.
Meg Sinclair (01:46):
Great.
To kick things off today, canyou tell us a little bit about
your background and journey thatled you to leading ChromaCode
today?
Mark McDonough (01:54):
Uh, sure.
So I, um, was a naval officerfor six years after graduating
from college and ROTC program atcollege.
And then when I was 28 yearsold, I had an opportunity to,
uh, despite not having aterribly deep biology
background, I was a financemajor and, and, uh, college.
(02:15):
And then, You know, acombination of navigation and
some engineering on, on boardship.
I was fortunate enough to getinto a cancer diagnostic company
called Ventana Medical Systems,which eventually sold to Roche,
um, for several billion dollars.
Uh, um, and I joined thatcompany in 1997 and, and really
my career kind of took off fromthere, focusing mostly on sales
(02:37):
and marketing roles, um, and,uh.
I did, uh, about four plus yearsat Intana, did another six years
at a, an anatomic pathologycompany where we focused on
molecular diagnostics as wellas, um, all types of cancers
from solid tumor tohematopoietic diseases at a
company called U.
S.
Labs as a central laboratory.
(02:58):
It's now a part of LabCorp.
And then the last 15 years thatreally pivoted my career.
Solely on molecular diagnosticsand, and mostly in, in smaller
organizations.
So ran a sales organization fora venture capital backed company
out of the Bay Area for fouryears.
And then, um, joined, uh, theformer CEO of US labs.
(03:18):
It was a mentor of mine, 2012 ata, at a small public company.
And lo and behold, a year later,he let me know that I was part
of a succession plan that Ididn't really know about.
And I took over for him as CEO.
And, uh, was quickly a CEO of apublic company in 2013, and did
that till we successfully soldthe company in late 2017.
(03:40):
And since then, um, have run,uh, uh, three different private
companies, one of which we wereable to sell to private equity
last year.
And then, uh, the 4th CEO role Ihave is that chroma code where I
joined.
At the JP Morgan conference thispast January, so I've just been
in the seat about a year now,but, um.
You know, I've been veryfortunate, uh, in my career,
(04:01):
most of it all in, uh, uh, thehealthcare space, certainly
almost all of it in, uh, cancerdiagnostic space from ranging
from capital equipment to beinga reference laboratory to
software sales.
So a lot of fun along the way.
Sounds like it.
Meg Sinclair (04:20):
What is it like to step into a CEO, CEO role at a
new company?
What surprises you aboutstepping in brand
Mark McDonough (04:27):
new there?
Yeah, no, good question.
So number one, you really wantto get to know the team right
away.
And, um, you want to let peopleknow, unless you, unless you
were brought in specificallywith a mandate to make dramatic
changes.
Um, which happens occasionallywhen one of my roles, you know,
(04:49):
um, here, I really wanted tocome and meet the team, uh,
establish trust with them,understand what we did really,
really well, chroma code,because we do a number of things
really, really well, and thenalso understand where there's
opportunities, uh, to improveand so make sure I'm
communicating with the board andour team and at the same time,
learning as much as you canabout our customers, uh, the
(05:12):
technology, how we can helppatients.
Um, just so, you know, I canhave more and more credibility.
And ChromoCode is a reallyhighly technical organization.
And so, you know, I'm still atthe infant stages of learning
all the technical nuances ofwhat we do, and it's pretty, uh,
it's, it's pretty interestingand complex, but what we enable
(05:33):
our customers using our softwareand our proprietary chemistries,
we, um, we do make things easyfor our customers.
So while it could be.
Uh, complex than the technologyin some instances, what we
deliver to our customer base is,is easy to use and easy to
adopt.
Um, so, um, but yeah, that's,that's really it.
(05:53):
I think learning the team,understanding your board, uh,
learning your customer base andthen understanding your
technology are the kind of keythings for me when I joined
ChromaCode.
Perfect.
Meg Sinclair (06:05):
Many people listening to our podcast are in
leadership positions orentrepreneurs starting out.
Can you give us your take onhiring today and developing a
high performing team?
Mark McDonough (06:16):
Yeah, I think that's it.
I mean, I think, um, and I knowmy video is going in and out,
sorry, but, um, I think it'sreally important that you focus
on just that latter part there,which is you want to get
everyone to being a highperforming team.
So Perfect.
Thank you.
You know, to me, um, I thinkestablishing trust with people
is really important and then,um, understanding that if they
(06:39):
have the requisite training forwhat you're trying to achieve,
what you don't want to do is,is, uh, either give someone so
little structure joining anorganization that he or she
doesn't feel like they're Beingadequately trained, um, yet on
the same time, you don't want toput so much structure in where
they feel like they're beingkind of suffocated.
(06:59):
So, you know, I think trainingis really important in
acclimation, um, to develophighly performing teams and
then, you know, making sure thathe or she is developing a good
rapport with their.
Their manager, I think, youknow, uh, obviously in, in the
economy today, you want to makesure you're paying people.
(07:21):
Well, have have quality of lifeand balance.
Those are all really keycriteria for anyone wanting to
stay at a company or to, um, tobuild a career.
But the other thing that's alsovery critical that may be
cliche, but it's true is peopletypically leave or stay based
off of, uh.
(07:42):
Their supervisor relationshipand so, you know, if they have a
good manager or they feel like.
Leadership is looking out forthem.
I think they have a betterchance to stay.
And so that's really important.
Um, you know, especially whenyou're emerging technology like
us, which there's challenges inthe space and you want to retain
your talent.
You want to make sure peoplefeel like, okay, these are folks
(08:04):
that I can trust and and workwith.
Meg Sinclair (08:07):
Those are great insights.
Shifting back to ChromaCode,what have been the traditional
challenges with PCR testing andhow is ChromaCode with its high
definition PCR platform solvingthose challenges today?
Mark McDonough (08:21):
Yeah, I think, um, what we've found is that,
well, by, by shifting towardsour HD PCR, which is, you know,
building, using the chemistriesin our software to build
applications for, uh, digitaldroplets PCR platforms that are,
You know, typically sold bycompanies such as Kyogen or
(08:42):
Roche or Thermo Fisher or Biorador Stila, uh, these, these
platforms provide some prettycool, uh, quantitative benefits
that, uh, genomic applicationscan really thrive on.
And so that's why we pivoted thecompany into the world of
genomics.
As you mentioned in yourpreamble, we're focused on lung
(09:05):
cancer, we're focused on acuteleukemia, we're focused on early
development of organ transplantrejection assay, as well as, uh,
We can also build custom assays,custom tests for either
academics or the DPCR platformcompanies, and we're doing, uh,
not announced yet, but we'redoing a couple of those right
(09:26):
now where we can build customassays based off of what the
customer wants to see withmultiplexing, which is a
simplistic way of saying you'relooking at a number of different
targets in one sample, asopposed to doing like a single
gene test for EGFR, for example,for a targeted therapy.
Thank you.
We run 15 biomarkers on our lungcancer tests on just one assay
(09:50):
with one report so that, youknow, the customer is going to
get more for one draw where, youknow, tissue sample might be a
problem, for example.
So, you know, traditional PCRhas been great for the
applications it's used for, andit's not going away.
Well, we think for genomics,HDPCR has just, uh, uh, I can't,
(10:11):
I won't say infinite, but, but asignificant amount of
applications that, that we wantto be kind of first in, in line
in terms of content creationfor, and that's what we're,
that's what we're doing now.
And, um, you know, we're alsopioneering here a little bit, so
that's not, that's not alwayseasy too.
Meg Sinclair (10:29):
Interesting.
That sounds like greatpioneering and great, um,
Leadership there in that newspace.
Precision medicine ishighlighted as a crucial
approach for improving outcomesin lung cancer.
How does Chromacode's technologycontribute to advancing
precision medicine and whatpotential impact do you envision
on the broader landscape ofcancer diagnostics and
Mark McDonough (10:50):
treatment?
Yeah.
So, um, you know, with lungcancer, our thesis is that, um,
once you, you have a, uh, youknow, a diagnosis of lung cancer
and you're trying to figure outOkay, how do we address this,
uh, in the fastest, best waypossible?
Um, we've built our technologyso that we can render an answer
(11:13):
on these 15 biomarkers, uh, inless than 24 hours.
So what's why that's practicallyimportant and how that impacts
precision medicine is inreality, if a patient.
Uh, is their doctor knows aboutour technology, or they run it
in their lab.
You run the chromocode testafter the sample is extracted,
(11:35):
run the chromocode test, andthen also run in parallel a test
run by a technology calledimmunostochemistry for PD L1.
And within 24 hours, you'll havethe PD L1 expression, which is
an indicator of whetherimmunotherapy will be a
candidate, a patient will be acandidate for immunotherapy.
And if not, they'll also havethe answer to the 15 biomarkers
(11:57):
from us as a first line.
So why that's crucial is if, youknow, 56 percent of the time,
it's going to be one of thosebiomarkers on our panel, uh, now
that the, uh, oncologist and thepatient with the family can.
can really craft a plan of atargeted therapy, uh, straight
away, um, without a chromocode.
(12:19):
So let's do that other scenario.
You can still run theimmunostochemical test and
figure
out if you're a candidate for IO immunotherapy,
but if it's negative, it'stypically run by next generation
sequencing through send outtests, which are very good.
Don't get me wrong, but theytake, you know, two to three
weeks, uh, and can be quiteexpensive.
So By running our test in house,you know, a laboratory can
(12:43):
deliver true precision medicinelocally, much faster turnaround
time, require much less patientsample, which Really gives you a
better chance of getting aresult.
Um, and then the patient can geton the optimal therapy.
And for the lab, it's anopportunity also to potentially
retain revenue.
So they're in the business ofhelping patients first and
(13:04):
foremost, but they're also as alaboratory, uh, trying to, to
do.
Make a profit, uh, for thehospital or private company and
so, you know, doing this, youcan get reimbursed for the test
as well.
So it's a, it's going to have a,we think, a profound impact in
lung cancer because we can helppeople get, you know, really
important treatments quicker.
(13:26):
And then the same technology.
Uh, applies to other diseasestates where we require less
tissue, it's faster, uh, youknow, margin to the laboratory
and turnaround time is, isbetter and that's just cause
that's just a principle of theHDPCR technology.
Meg Sinclair (13:44):
Sounds like better outcomes for patients all
around.
That's great.
Mark McDonough (13:48):
Totally.
Yes.
Meg Sinclair (13:50):
So it seems like for Chroma codes, partnerships
are a critical piece of your goto market strategy.
Many founders want to know howto find and develop partnership
relationships.
Do you have any source onsourcing these or courting
partnerships within yourindustry?
Mark McDonough (14:07):
Yeah, I mean, so, so for us, there's some, you
know, natural sort of choices,um, uh, right out of the gate
for us.
We're, um We're a software and akit provider.
So, you know, we, we definitelywant to look to the companies
that provide the capitalequipment and platforms and, you
know, ask those companies ifthey want to partner.
(14:28):
And, um, you know, so we have aformal partnership, uh, uh, and,
and kind of an informalpartnership there.
And then.
We have customers, you know,this is, uh, we're in the early
stages of this and there's,there's, we're establishing
patterns of reimbursement forthis test, which we're very
confident we're going to securebecause of all the reasons we
(14:49):
talked about faster turnaroundtime, less tissue, quicker
treatment, less cost.
So there's definitely ajustification for.
For reimbursement, um, to bepaid because it's going to save
the health care system a lot ofmoney and patients a lot of
money in the long run.
But we need in these early dayspartnerships, like, that's what
we have.
You mentioned protean out ofFlorida.
(15:09):
You mentioned med genomeinternationally.
We need these partners to workwith us as we, um, you know, go
to market with these tests andensure that private payers are
paying for it and, you know,health care ministries are
paying for it.
So, you know, the advice I giveis, you know.
Seek out who your ideal customerwould be and seek out who can
(15:32):
also benefit when you aredelivering product to market,
you know, and then, um, youknow, be proactive and reaching
out on and proposing kind of winwin opportunities for those
partners and, um.
You know, that's what we've beendoing.
And then the other thing we dois, you know, just hire talent.
(15:53):
I have a very good chiefcommercial officer and a very
good head of businessdevelopment to, who have
relationships or have builtrelationships with a number of
people in our space.
And then, so just by reachingout and having commerce,
educational conversations aboutwhat we're doing, sometimes
organically, something we maynot have thought of as a
(16:13):
potential partner.
They may be working on somethingstrategically and say, well,
gosh, you know.
This could really fit us well.
Um, so, you know, that that'skind of the other part of it is,
you know, hiring talent who'swell connected in the space
because they can open up newpartnerships as well.
Meg Sinclair (16:31):
That's great advice for our listeners.
How do you see ChromaCode andits technology advancing in the
coming years?
In your crystal ball.
Mark McDonough (16:39):
Yeah, my crystal ball.
I think, um, we're going tocontinue to be trailblazers in
this, you know, we're going toneed, uh, open minds from, you
know, like reimbursement forpeople to understand how we can
help, um, because that's, that'sincredibly viable or important
for our business.
Um, you know, we'll continue towork with, uh, different
(17:02):
partners.
We're really excited that, uh,the digital PCR platform
companies.
And by that again, those arekind of the capital equipment
companies.
They, there's thirsting forcontent to put on their digital
PCR instruments so that they canhelp more patients.
I think there are some.
There's some emerging trendswhere, you know, the reimbursed
(17:25):
people want to pay, the payerswant to obviously pay a little
bit less than they do right nowfor, for testing, especially so
more people can get it.
And so we think that trendreally bodes well for us that we
can deliver faster, lessexpensive tests that, you know,
payers should also be reallyreceptive to.
Um, and so, yeah, I think we,uh.
(17:47):
Uh, in an ideal world, we're anuber successful standalone
company in several years,driving, you know, up to a
hundred million plus in revenue,and then.
You know, there could also be aworld where, uh, you know, our
software and our kits are, uh,another company thinks it could
really help us accelerate ourgrowth.
(18:07):
And, you know, they, they seethe value in our technology and
we become part of them too.
So that's something I, I couldsee us adding a lot of value to,
but whatever we can do to help,you know, significant amount of
patients across the world, we,we, we're really game to do.
Meg Sinclair (18:23):
Well, I'm game to see what you guys do in the
coming years there atChromaCode.
Our final question for today ismore of a fun one.
We love to ask each of ourguests, if we ran into you,
Mark, at a bookstore or yourlocal library, in which section
would we find
Mark McDonough (18:36):
you?
Oh, gosh, that's, that's a,that's a good one.
I think, um, you know, I, I, Ienjoy history.
Uh, so I think I'd probably be.
There, um, there first, if it,if it's a Barnes and Noble or,
uh, you know, or the bio, youknow, biography section, just
(18:58):
reading and learning aboutdifferent interesting people
along the way or, or history, Ithink that would be, uh, that'd
be something I, I, uh, wouldkind of bury myself in.
Yeah, same here.
Meg Sinclair (19:09):
I might bump into you in a local Barnes and Noble
there, Mark.
Well, Qualio.
Where can our listeners go tofollow along and connect with
Mark McDonough (19:19):
you?
Yeah, um, definitely just checkout our website because we've
got a lot of really, uh, coolthings, uh, of what we're doing
at ChromaCode and how we areworking hard to make a societal
impact.
So www.
chromacode.
com, um, and, uh.
You know, otherwise my LinkedInprofile, but I'm, I'm fairly,
(19:41):
but fairly boring in thatregard.
So I don't have a ton of handlesand stuff.
So, but, uh, thanks for the timetoday.
Meg Sinclair (19:48):
Thank you so much for joining us.
We'll post all of that in theshow notes.
It was a pleasure, Mark.
Thank you.
Mark McDonough (19:53):
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode of From Lab to
Launch, brought to you byQualio.
If you like what you've heard,please subscribe and give the
(20:13):
show a positive review.
It really helps us out.
For more information aboutQualio, our guest today, or to
be a guest on a future episode,please refer to the show notes.
Until next time.
Hi there! Welcome to the FromLab to Launch podcast by Qualio,
where we share inspiring storiesfrom the people on the front
lines of life sciences.
Tune in and leave inspired tobring your life saving products
to the world.
Meg Sinclair (00:17):
Hi, everyone.
And thanks for tuning in to FromLab to Launch by Qualio.
I'm Meg, your host.
Glad to be here and reallyexcited about today's episode.
Before we get started, we'd loveit if you rated the podcast.
It's easy to do and share itwith any of your science nerd
friends.
We know you've got some.
If you'd like to be on the show,please see the show notes for an
application.
(00:40):
Mark McDonough is the CEO ofChromaCode, where he and his
team have created an innovative,high definition PCR platform
that utilizes proprietary cloudbased signal processing to allow
for enhanced multiplexing anddetection of clinically relevant
biomarkers.
This rapid and accurate approachgenerates higher throughput from
(01:02):
existing laboratory equipmentfor broad biomarker testing
without the cost delay, oranalytical complexity of next
generation sequencing.
Under the leadership of CEO,mark Crow coma has, excuse me,
chroma code has pivoted stronglyafter winning the xprize.
Rapid Covid testing competitionin 2021 to oncology commercially
(01:26):
launched their non-small celllung cancer se.
and develop partnerships withprotein, bio diagnostics, and
with MedGenome, the latter in aneffort to bring affordable
diagnostics to India and theMiddle East.
So let's get to it.
Welcome to From Lab to Launch,Mark.
Mark McDonough (01:44):
Uh, thanks Meg.
I'm happy to be here.
Meg Sinclair (01:46):
Great.
To kick things off today, canyou tell us a little bit about
your background and journey thatled you to leading ChromaCode
today?
Mark McDonough (01:54):
Uh, sure.
So I, um, was a naval officerfor six years after graduating
from college and ROTC program atcollege.
And then when I was 28 yearsold, I had an opportunity to,
uh, despite not having aterribly deep biology
background, I was a financemajor and, and, uh, college.
(02:15):
And then, You know, acombination of navigation and
some engineering on, on boardship.
I was fortunate enough to getinto a cancer diagnostic company
called Ventana Medical Systems,which eventually sold to Roche,
um, for several billion dollars.
Uh, um, and I joined thatcompany in 1997 and, and really
my career kind of took off fromthere, focusing mostly on sales
(02:37):
and marketing roles, um, and,uh.
I did, uh, about four plus yearsat Intana, did another six years
at a, an anatomic pathologycompany where we focused on
molecular diagnostics as wellas, um, all types of cancers
from solid tumor tohematopoietic diseases at a
company called U.
S.
Labs as a central laboratory.
(02:58):
It's now a part of LabCorp.
And then the last 15 years thatreally pivoted my career.
Solely on molecular diagnosticsand, and mostly in, in smaller
organizations.
So ran a sales organization fora venture capital backed company
out of the Bay Area for fouryears.
And then, um, joined, uh, theformer CEO of US labs.
(03:18):
It was a mentor of mine, 2012 ata, at a small public company.
And lo and behold, a year later,he let me know that I was part
of a succession plan that Ididn't really know about.
And I took over for him as CEO.
And, uh, was quickly a CEO of apublic company in 2013, and did
that till we successfully soldthe company in late 2017.
(03:40):
And since then, um, have run,uh, uh, three different private
companies, one of which we wereable to sell to private equity
last year.
And then, uh, the 4th CEO role Ihave is that chroma code where I
joined.
At the JP Morgan conference thispast January, so I've just been
in the seat about a year now,but, um.
You know, I've been veryfortunate, uh, in my career,
(04:01):
most of it all in, uh, uh, thehealthcare space, certainly
almost all of it in, uh, cancerdiagnostic space from ranging
from capital equipment to beinga reference laboratory to
software sales.
So a lot of fun along the way.
Sounds like it.
Meg Sinclair (04:20):
What is it like to step into a CEO, CEO role at a
new company?
What surprises you aboutstepping in brand
Mark McDonough (04:27):
new there?
Yeah, no, good question.
So number one, you really wantto get to know the team right
away.
And, um, you want to let peopleknow, unless you, unless you
were brought in specificallywith a mandate to make dramatic
changes.
Um, which happens occasionallywhen one of my roles, you know,
(04:49):
um, here, I really wanted tocome and meet the team, uh,
establish trust with them,understand what we did really,
really well, chroma code,because we do a number of things
really, really well, and thenalso understand where there's
opportunities, uh, to improveand so make sure I'm
communicating with the board andour team and at the same time,
learning as much as you canabout our customers, uh, the
(05:12):
technology, how we can helppatients.
Um, just so, you know, I canhave more and more credibility.
And ChromoCode is a reallyhighly technical organization.
And so, you know, I'm still atthe infant stages of learning
all the technical nuances ofwhat we do, and it's pretty, uh,
it's, it's pretty interestingand complex, but what we enable
(05:33):
our customers using our softwareand our proprietary chemistries,
we, um, we do make things easyfor our customers.
So while it could be.
Uh, complex than the technologyin some instances, what we
deliver to our customer base is,is easy to use and easy to
adopt.
Um, so, um, but yeah, that's,that's really it.
(05:53):
I think learning the team,understanding your board, uh,
learning your customer base andthen understanding your
technology are the kind of keythings for me when I joined
ChromaCode.
Perfect.
Meg Sinclair (06:05):
Many people listening to our podcast are in
leadership positions orentrepreneurs starting out.
Can you give us your take onhiring today and developing a
high performing team?
Mark McDonough (06:16):
Yeah, I think that's it.
I mean, I think, um, and I knowmy video is going in and out,
sorry, but, um, I think it'sreally important that you focus
on just that latter part there,which is you want to get
everyone to being a highperforming team.
So Perfect.
Thank you.
You know, to me, um, I thinkestablishing trust with people
is really important and then,um, understanding that if they
(06:39):
have the requisite training forwhat you're trying to achieve,
what you don't want to do is,is, uh, either give someone so
little structure joining anorganization that he or she
doesn't feel like they're Beingadequately trained, um, yet on
the same time, you don't want toput so much structure in where
they feel like they're beingkind of suffocated.
(06:59):
So, you know, I think trainingis really important in
acclimation, um, to develophighly performing teams and
then, you know, making sure thathe or she is developing a good
rapport with their.
Their manager, I think, youknow, uh, obviously in, in the
economy today, you want to makesure you're paying people.
(07:21):
Well, have have quality of lifeand balance.
Those are all really keycriteria for anyone wanting to
stay at a company or to, um, tobuild a career.
But the other thing that's alsovery critical that may be
cliche, but it's true is peopletypically leave or stay based
off of, uh.
(07:42):
Their supervisor relationshipand so, you know, if they have a
good manager or they feel like.
Leadership is looking out forthem.
I think they have a betterchance to stay.
And so that's really important.
Um, you know, especially whenyou're emerging technology like
us, which there's challenges inthe space and you want to retain
your talent.
You want to make sure peoplefeel like, okay, these are folks
(08:04):
that I can trust and and workwith.
Meg Sinclair (08:07):
Those are great insights.
Shifting back to ChromaCode,what have been the traditional
challenges with PCR testing andhow is ChromaCode with its high
definition PCR platform solvingthose challenges today?
Mark McDonough (08:21):
Yeah, I think, um, what we've found is that,
well, by, by shifting towardsour HD PCR, which is, you know,
building, using the chemistriesin our software to build
applications for, uh, digitaldroplets PCR platforms that are,
You know, typically sold bycompanies such as Kyogen or
(08:42):
Roche or Thermo Fisher or Biorador Stila, uh, these, these
platforms provide some prettycool, uh, quantitative benefits
that, uh, genomic applicationscan really thrive on.
And so that's why we pivoted thecompany into the world of
genomics.
As you mentioned in yourpreamble, we're focused on lung
(09:05):
cancer, we're focused on acuteleukemia, we're focused on early
development of organ transplantrejection assay, as well as, uh,
We can also build custom assays,custom tests for either
academics or the DPCR platformcompanies, and we're doing, uh,
not announced yet, but we'redoing a couple of those right
(09:26):
now where we can build customassays based off of what the
customer wants to see withmultiplexing, which is a
simplistic way of saying you'relooking at a number of different
targets in one sample, asopposed to doing like a single
gene test for EGFR, for example,for a targeted therapy.
Thank you.
We run 15 biomarkers on our lungcancer tests on just one assay
(09:50):
with one report so that, youknow, the customer is going to
get more for one draw where, youknow, tissue sample might be a
problem, for example.
So, you know, traditional PCRhas been great for the
applications it's used for, andit's not going away.
Well, we think for genomics,HDPCR has just, uh, uh, I can't,
(10:11):
I won't say infinite, but, but asignificant amount of
applications that, that we wantto be kind of first in, in line
in terms of content creationfor, and that's what we're,
that's what we're doing now.
And, um, you know, we're alsopioneering here a little bit, so
that's not, that's not alwayseasy too.
Meg Sinclair (10:29):
Interesting.
That sounds like greatpioneering and great, um,
Leadership there in that newspace.
Precision medicine ishighlighted as a crucial
approach for improving outcomesin lung cancer.
How does Chromacode's technologycontribute to advancing
precision medicine and whatpotential impact do you envision
on the broader landscape ofcancer diagnostics and
Mark McDonough (10:50):
treatment?
Yeah.
So, um, you know, with lungcancer, our thesis is that, um,
once you, you have a, uh, youknow, a diagnosis of lung cancer
and you're trying to figure outOkay, how do we address this,
uh, in the fastest, best waypossible?
Um, we've built our technologyso that we can render an answer
(11:13):
on these 15 biomarkers, uh, inless than 24 hours.
So what's why that's practicallyimportant and how that impacts
precision medicine is inreality, if a patient.
Uh, is their doctor knows aboutour technology, or they run it
in their lab.
You run the chromocode testafter the sample is extracted,
(11:35):
run the chromocode test, andthen also run in parallel a test
run by a technology calledimmunostochemistry for PD L1.
And within 24 hours, you'll havethe PD L1 expression, which is
an indicator of whetherimmunotherapy will be a
candidate, a patient will be acandidate for immunotherapy.
And if not, they'll also havethe answer to the 15 biomarkers
(11:57):
from us as a first line.
So why that's crucial is if, youknow, 56 percent of the time,
it's going to be one of thosebiomarkers on our panel, uh, now
that the, uh, oncologist and thepatient with the family can.
can really craft a plan of atargeted therapy, uh, straight
away, um, without a chromocode.
(12:19):
So let's do that other scenario.
You can still run theimmunostochemical test and
figure
out if you're a candidate for IO immunotherapy,
but if it's negative, it'stypically run by next generation
sequencing through send outtests, which are very good.
Don't get me wrong, but theytake, you know, two to three
weeks, uh, and can be quiteexpensive.
So By running our test in house,you know, a laboratory can
(12:43):
deliver true precision medicinelocally, much faster turnaround
time, require much less patientsample, which Really gives you a
better chance of getting aresult.
Um, and then the patient can geton the optimal therapy.
And for the lab, it's anopportunity also to potentially
retain revenue.
So they're in the business ofhelping patients first and
(13:04):
foremost, but they're also as alaboratory, uh, trying to, to
do.
Make a profit, uh, for thehospital or private company and
so, you know, doing this, youcan get reimbursed for the test
as well.
So it's a, it's going to have a,we think, a profound impact in
lung cancer because we can helppeople get, you know, really
important treatments quicker.
(13:26):
And then the same technology.
Uh, applies to other diseasestates where we require less
tissue, it's faster, uh, youknow, margin to the laboratory
and turnaround time is, isbetter and that's just cause
that's just a principle of theHDPCR technology.
Meg Sinclair (13:44):
Sounds like better outcomes for patients all
around.
That's great.
Mark McDonough (13:48):
Totally.
Yes.
Meg Sinclair (13:50):
So it seems like for Chroma codes, partnerships
are a critical piece of your goto market strategy.
Many founders want to know howto find and develop partnership
relationships.
Do you have any source onsourcing these or courting
partnerships within yourindustry?
Mark McDonough (14:07):
Yeah, I mean, so, so for us, there's some, you
know, natural sort of choices,um, uh, right out of the gate
for us.
We're, um We're a software and akit provider.
So, you know, we, we definitelywant to look to the companies
that provide the capitalequipment and platforms and, you
know, ask those companies ifthey want to partner.
(14:28):
And, um, you know, so we have aformal partnership, uh, uh, and,
and kind of an informalpartnership there.
And then.
We have customers, you know,this is, uh, we're in the early
stages of this and there's,there's, we're establishing
patterns of reimbursement forthis test, which we're very
confident we're going to securebecause of all the reasons we
(14:49):
talked about faster turnaroundtime, less tissue, quicker
treatment, less cost.
So there's definitely ajustification for.
For reimbursement, um, to bepaid because it's going to save
the health care system a lot ofmoney and patients a lot of
money in the long run.
But we need in these early dayspartnerships, like, that's what
we have.
You mentioned protean out ofFlorida.
(15:09):
You mentioned med genomeinternationally.
We need these partners to workwith us as we, um, you know, go
to market with these tests andensure that private payers are
paying for it and, you know,health care ministries are
paying for it.
So, you know, the advice I giveis, you know.
Seek out who your ideal customerwould be and seek out who can
(15:32):
also benefit when you aredelivering product to market,
you know, and then, um, youknow, be proactive and reaching
out on and proposing kind of winwin opportunities for those
partners and, um.
You know, that's what we've beendoing.
And then the other thing we dois, you know, just hire talent.
(15:53):
I have a very good chiefcommercial officer and a very
good head of businessdevelopment to, who have
relationships or have builtrelationships with a number of
people in our space.
And then, so just by reachingout and having commerce,
educational conversations aboutwhat we're doing, sometimes
organically, something we maynot have thought of as a
(16:13):
potential partner.
They may be working on somethingstrategically and say, well,
gosh, you know.
This could really fit us well.
Um, so, you know, that that'skind of the other part of it is,
you know, hiring talent who'swell connected in the space
because they can open up newpartnerships as well.
Meg Sinclair (16:31):
That's great advice for our listeners.
How do you see ChromaCode andits technology advancing in the
coming years?
In your crystal ball.
Mark McDonough (16:39):
Yeah, my crystal ball.
I think, um, we're going tocontinue to be trailblazers in
this, you know, we're going toneed, uh, open minds from, you
know, like reimbursement forpeople to understand how we can
help, um, because that's, that'sincredibly viable or important
for our business.
Um, you know, we'll continue towork with, uh, different
(17:02):
partners.
We're really excited that, uh,the digital PCR platform
companies.
And by that again, those arekind of the capital equipment
companies.
They, there's thirsting forcontent to put on their digital
PCR instruments so that they canhelp more patients.
I think there are some.
There's some emerging trendswhere, you know, the reimbursed
(17:25):
people want to pay, the payerswant to obviously pay a little
bit less than they do right nowfor, for testing, especially so
more people can get it.
And so we think that trendreally bodes well for us that we
can deliver faster, lessexpensive tests that, you know,
payers should also be reallyreceptive to.
Um, and so, yeah, I think we,uh.
(17:47):
Uh, in an ideal world, we're anuber successful standalone
company in several years,driving, you know, up to a
hundred million plus in revenue,and then.
You know, there could also be aworld where, uh, you know, our
software and our kits are, uh,another company thinks it could
really help us accelerate ourgrowth.
(18:07):
And, you know, they, they seethe value in our technology and
we become part of them too.
So that's something I, I couldsee us adding a lot of value to,
but whatever we can do to help,you know, significant amount of
patients across the world, we,we, we're really game to do.
Meg Sinclair (18:23):
Well, I'm game to see what you guys do in the
coming years there atChromaCode.
Our final question for today ismore of a fun one.
We love to ask each of ourguests, if we ran into you,
Mark, at a bookstore or yourlocal library, in which section
would we find
Mark McDonough (18:36):
you?
Oh, gosh, that's, that's a,that's a good one.
I think, um, you know, I, I, Ienjoy history.
Uh, so I think I'd probably be.
There, um, there first, if it,if it's a Barnes and Noble or,
uh, you know, or the bio, youknow, biography section, just
(18:58):
reading and learning aboutdifferent interesting people
along the way or, or history, Ithink that would be, uh, that'd
be something I, I, uh, wouldkind of bury myself in.
Yeah, same here.
Meg Sinclair (19:09):
I might bump into you in a local Barnes and Noble
there, Mark.
Well, Qualio.
Where can our listeners go tofollow along and connect with
Mark McDonough (19:19):
you?
Yeah, um, definitely just checkout our website because we've
got a lot of really, uh, coolthings, uh, of what we're doing
at ChromaCode and how we areworking hard to make a societal
impact.
So www.
chromacode.
com, um, and, uh.
You know, otherwise my LinkedInprofile, but I'm, I'm fairly,
(19:41):
but fairly boring in thatregard.
So I don't have a ton of handlesand stuff.
So, but, uh, thanks for the timetoday.
Meg Sinclair (19:48):
Thank you so much for joining us.
We'll post all of that in theshow notes.
It was a pleasure, Mark.
Thank you.
Mark McDonough (19:53):
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode of From Lab to
Launch, brought to you byQualio.
If you like what you've heard,please subscribe and give the
(20:13):
show a positive review.
It really helps us out.
For more information aboutQualio, our guest today, or to
be a guest on a future episode,please refer to the show notes.
Until next time.
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