Leuven (Belgium) — August 9, 2016 — miDIAGNOSTICS, a global developer of integrated diagnostic solutions for the point-of-need, announces the appointment of Dr. Hilja Ibert as CEO. Dr. Ibert brings decades of expertise in managing medical diagnostics companies to this potentially groundbreaking venture that combines the expertise of two world leading institutions: imec (Leuven, Belgium), a leading nanoelectronics R&D center and Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, USA), a world-renowned academic medicine and research institution.

miDIAGNOSTICS aims to develop diagnostic tests integrated in silicon chips. With a small volume of blood, this will allow point-of-need on-chip detection of cells, proteins, nucleic acids, and/or small molecules. Within minutes, the data resulting from these complex tests will be sent to e.g. smartphones or other mobile devices where they will be processed and displayed. This will bring complex diagnostic tests to the local point of need at an affordable cost, with a high level of comfort and confidence for both patients and caregivers.

Dr. Hilja Ibert joined miDIAGNOSTICS as CEO in February 2016. With the support of research partners imec and Johns Hopkins University, her team will develop the first miDIAGNOSTICS product portfolio, bring in interested global commercial partners and develop a market strategy. Before joining miDIAGNOSTICS, Ms. Ibert was vice-president and general manager of Hologic Diagnostics Solutions International, a global player in the field of breast health, surgical and clinical diagnostics. Previously, she held various positions at Becton Dickinson and bioMerieux, both leading players in the medical device and diagnostics market. Dr. Ibert holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and a Degree in Nutritional Sciences from the Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms Universität of Bonn, Germany.

“The expertise that is available in miDIAGNOSTICS is truly unique” says Dr. Ibert. “Imec’s and Johns Hopkins’ teams have been pioneers in bringing biological tests to chips in a silicon technology that can be produced in high volumes.” Co-founder and Professor of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University, Bob Bollinger, MD, MPH, added: “It is our expectation that the tools developed by miDIAGNOSTICS could lead to a positive disruption in global diagnostics. They have the potential to bring affordable clinical diagnostics to people and places where no such tests were available. And with medicine evolving towards personalized treatments, they could enable appropriate testing without burdening healthcare budgets. The strong participation of two renowned R&D institutions also implies that transparency through peer-reviewed publications and presentations are an integral part of our plans. As such both our commercial partners and users could be able to adopt our technology with full confidence.”

Luc Van den hove, CEO of imec and chairman of the board of directors of miDIAGNOSTICS commented: “As one of the founders of miDIAGNOSTICS, we’re very proud that Dr. Ibert has joined this endeavor. From our longstanding expertise with silicon nanoelectronics, we know that this technology offers enormous opportunities in terms of boosting medical diagnostics. miDIAGNOSTICS is the ideal vehicle to develop high-quality products and bring them to patients. Dr. Ibert will be instrumental in making this happen.”

About miDIAGNOSTICS
miDIAGNOSTICS aims to globally shift the way in which individuals and communities manage their healthcare by combining the know-how and technical expertise of researchers at imec (Leuven, Belgium), the world’s leading nano-electronics research center, and The Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland), a world-renowned academic medicine and research institution. This unique collaborative life science venture is developing highly accurate, single-use diagnostic devices to enable faster and more efficient healthcare at any point of need. Each test requires only drops of blood and allows on-chip detection of cells, proteins, nucleic acids, and/or small molecules. Test data are collected, processed and displayed as structured results on any smartphone, tablet or laptop within minutes, enabling medical decisions to occur with a high level of comfort to both patients and caregivers. This innovative collaboration with imec and The Johns Hopkins University was founded in 2015 and is backed by investors Marc Coucke, Michel Akkermans and Flemish investment firm fund PMV. www.miDiagnostics.com