Personomics

Persomics was a life sciences company that provided a genetic composition analytics platform aimed at accelerating the discovery of cures. Founded in 2014, the firm established its U.S. presence in the biohub at Waltham, Massachusetts, to be near the center of life-saving scientific research. The company also had locations in Cupertino, California, and Gothenburg, Sweden. Persomics operated in the HealthTech and Life Sciences sectors, providing laboratory services to other companies and organizations to help them reduce the complexity and cost of functional genomics and phenotypic screening.

The core of Persomics' offering was a proprietary high-throughput microarray printing technology licensed from the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). This platform was designed to miniaturize and simplify RNA interference (RNAi) experiments, a natural cellular process for inhibiting gene expression. The company produced ready-made screening kits containing thousands of distinct small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) on a single glass slide. This technology enabled researchers to interrogate thousands of genes in parallel by selectively silencing them, thereby expediting research into the human genome and disease models. A key benefit was the significant reduction in screening time, from several weeks using traditional methods to just hours with the Persomics platform, making genome-wide experimentation more accessible and cost-effective.

The company was formerly backed by an accelerator/incubator and had received Angel funding in January 2015. Neil Emans served as the Chief Executive Officer of Persomics USA, Inc. According to PitchBook data, the company ceased operations around June 2019.

Keywords: genetic research, RNA interference, phenotypic screening, functional genomics, high-throughput screening, microarray technology, siRNA, gene silencing, laboratory services, drug discovery, disease model research, genetic analytics, life sciences tools, genome screening, HealthTech, biotech, molecular biology, cell-based assays, genetic engineering, drug development