He Raised $60 Million To Build A Genomic Technology Platform For Genome Testing And Cancer Diagnostics

Barney Balmforth’s journey is a testament to calculated risk-taking, resilience, and visionary leadership. Born in the rural southwest of England, his formative years were shaped by his parents’ entrepreneurial spirit, who ran their own small business.

From them, Barney learned two pivotal lessons: the importance of taking calculated risks and pursuing meaningful endeavors. These values, along with the inspiration to work hard, would later drive his career in the high-stakes world of tech and biotech startups.

In this in-depth interview, Barney discusses building and scaling his companies and spin-offs and raising funding for them.

Listen to the full podcast episode and review the transcript here.

The Early Years: A Passion for Science

Barney’s passion for science began at a young age. With a natural curiosity and a love for learning, he was drawn to physics. “I get bored very quickly if I’m not learning new things,” he shared, underscoring his constant desire to expand his understanding of the world.

This thirst for knowledge led Barney to the University of Oxford, where he completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees in physics. But he wasn’t done with academia just yet.

Barney moved to Cambridge to pursue a PhD in quantum computing, a decision that would prove pivotal not only academically but also in shaping his future entrepreneurial endeavors. He developed a real love for developing technologies that can impact humanity.

The Leap to Industry: From Cosworth to Base4

Barney’s time at Cambridge opened his eyes to new possibilities and the fantastic academic environment, but it also exposed him to its limitations. Despite the groundbreaking work he was involved in, Barney felt frustrated and disillusioned by the long timelines.

He saw that new discoveries were always “10 years away” from making an impact. This dissatisfaction led Barney to seek opportunities in industry, where he believed he could have a more immediate effect on the world.

Barney’s first foray into the corporate world came with Cosworth, a company specializing in engine control software for motorsport. Although he spent only 18 months there, it was long enough to confirm that he was looking for something more groundbreaking.

Barney was looking for opportunities to use his skills and was interested in the company’s engineering technical focus. He realized he wanted to work on more foundational technology during his stint at Cosworth.

That opportunity came in 2009 when Barney was approached by the CEO of an early-stage startup, Base4, a genomics company developing novel DNA sequencing technologies. At the time, Base4 was just a two-person operation, but he was captivated by the potential impact of their technology.

Building Base 4: From Startup to Scale-Up

Barney joined Base4 as its third employee in late 2009, fully aware of the risks involved but excited about the enormous opportunity to learn new things.

The excitement of working on cutting-edge technology, building a multidisciplinary team, and scaling a startup was too alluring to resist. Over the next decade, Barney played a crucial role in growing the company from a small team of three to an organization of over 45 people.

Base4’s groundbreaking work in DNA sequencing attracted tens of millions of dollars in venture capital, making it one of the few companies that successfully developed a functional DNA sequencing platform.

As Barney’s role evolved from technical work to project leadership and operational management, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer and joined the board of directors.

Leading the company’s operational management exposed him to the complexities of scaling a tech startup and honed his business acumen.

The Pivot: From Base4 to Biofidelity

Base4’s DNA sequencing platform could actually sequence DNA. They had a functional prototype and had published some great data. But, in 2017, a critical juncture emerged after Barney spent nine years at Base4.

The capital markets had shifted, with investors focusing more on the applications of genomics rather than platform development. DNA sequencing, while groundbreaking, required enormous amounts of capital.

As a result, companies entering the market often raised between $500M and $2B in private investment before even launching. The leadership at Base4, including Barney, recognized the high risk of continuing in this direction.

Instead of pushing forward blindly, the team did a deep dive into the genomics market, identifying opportunities and applications they could target with their technologies.

After extensive talks with major pharmaceutical developers, diagnostics companies, and oncologists, they found that the technologies they had been developing were solutions to some fundamental problems in their space.

This analysis led to a bold decision: to split Base4 into three companies, each focused on different applications of the technologies they’d developed. One of these companies took instrumentation hardware and deployed it into pharmaceutical discovery workflows.

Founding Biofidelity

Another of those companies was Biofidelity, which worked in the molecular biology sphere, and became Barney’s new venture in early 2019–as a spinoff focused on cancer diagnostics. He started to deploy molecular biology technology into the cancer diagnostic space.

Barney realized that pharmaceutical companies had invested more than $100B in the development of targeted therapies over the last twenty years. These cancer treatments only work on a small fraction of patients, targeting specific mutations in the patient’s genome.

However, the treatments are incredibly impactful and can extend survival times in cancer by as much as 10x. But they only benefit patients who have those mutations. Patients need to be tested to identify which will respond to which treatment.

As Barney says, the treatment guidelines have been in place for more than 10 years, directing patients to receive this kind of testing.

Solving a Critical Gap in Cancer Diagnostics

Biofidelity’s mission is to address a significant problem in oncology: fewer than 20% of cancer patients worldwide receive the genomic testing required to match them with the most effective treatments. The world needs access to genomic testing in oncology.

Despite advancements in targeted cancer therapies, this lack of testing means that most patients miss out on life-extending treatments and new drugs that pharmaceutical companies develop.

This means that survival and outcomes in cancer are not improving as quickly as they should do, pointing to a huge gap between therapeutics and diagnostics, which is the opportunity to fill.

Biofidelity aims to change that by developing a technology that simplifies complex genomic testing. As Barney has learned over the past 15 years of working in building startups, it is important to know the importance of a well-defined problem and the importance of developing a solution to it.

Using existing PCR instruments—commonly used for COVID diagnostics—Biofidelity’s solution allows labs worldwide to run these tests without needing expensive, centralized facilities.

This decentralized approach could democratize access to genomic testing, ensuring that more patients receive the care they need closer to home.

Scaling Biofidelity: From Startup to Global Impact

With support from Base4’s shareholders, Barney took on the role of CEO and started Biofidelity, along with three scientists from the original team. Over the next five years, the company grew from a small spinoff into a global player in cancer diagnostics.

Today, Biofidelity boasts a team of 75 employees, a manufacturing facility in Cambridge, and a state-of-the-art clinical diagnostic laboratory in North Carolina. Barney reveals how they have built all the product development processes needed to create a clinical diagnostic product.

One of Barney’s key takeaways from his years of building startups is the importance of having the right team at the right time. “The evolution of people as the company grows cannot be underestimated,” he says.

As Biofidelity scaled, Barney ensured that the team grew alongside it, with a focus on developing both the technology and the people driving the company forward.

As Barney points out, the key challenge is that many patients don’t have access to testing because the current methods are extremely complex and expensive. Millions of dollars are needed to set up a clinical laboratory, which is why there are few very large laboratories offering this kind of testing.

This situation runs counter to all the dynamics of the healthcare system because laboratories that actually own a patient sample want to analyze it and do the testing.

The Biofidelity Business Model

Biofidelity enables laboratories that own the sample to run the testing themselves, rather than sending it to a big centralized lab and losing the opportunity to deliver better results more quickly. And, also retain some of the revenue of running that testing.

Biofidelity has developed a technology that allows highly complex genomic testing on existing PCR instruments. These are the same type of simple bits of hardware used for COVID diagnostics.

There are labs worldwide with hundreds of these instruments, and Biofidelity has built a box of reagents that can be used on those instruments. This long-term model enables labs worldwide to run this kind of testing.

The testing can be done in a way that is simple to adopt, has a much lower cost, is much more reliable, and can be run locally near the patient so that laboratories can retain some of the value of running this kind of testing.

Raising Capital: Navigating the Challenges

Since its founding, Biofidelity has raised around $60M in capital—a significant sum, though modest compared to the $100M typically needed to commercialize in the genomics space. That investment has been raised from venture capital funds, private investors, and strategic investors.

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Despite the challenges of fundraising in a competitive and capital-intensive industry, Barney emphasizes the importance of differentiating Biofidelity from other companies. “We are absolutely very different,” he says, and this distinction has helped Biofidelity secure investment.

Biofidelity’s ability to raise substantial capital while remaining resource-efficient speaks to Barney’s leadership and strategic thinking. The company launched its first product in late 2023, well ahead of many competitors who had raised significantly more money.

Having raised $40M, Biofidelity had built the technology, first products, its clinical diagnostic lab and manufacturing processes. Barney also put together the commercial team needed for the launch of the product.

They also invested resources into working with some of the leading cancer centers and healthcare providers in the United States to generate data and demonstrate the impact of the technology that Biofidelity was developing.

Barney reveals that a lot of the data from those studies will be published soon.

Looking Ahead: Transforming Cancer Diagnostics

Biofidelity is poised to significantly impact cancer treatment worldwide. With its innovative approach to genomic testing, the company aims to bridge the gap between targeted therapies and diagnostics, ensuring that more patients receive the treatments they need.

For Barney, the rewards go far beyond financial success—it’s about making a tangible difference in the lives of patients by making life-saving genomic insights accessible to them–regardless of their social or economic background and geography.

Barney envisions a world where people with cancer can live longer and happier lives and enjoy the benefits of all these fantastic advantages and medical advances. That’s the mission statement they communicate to their new hires and how they talk about technology and products.

Reflecting on his journey, Barney notes, “Everything we’re doing is ultimately for the benefit of the patient.”

In Retrospect–Lessons Learned!

Talking about the lessons learned from his experiences, Barney underscores the importance of doing a small number of things to the highest possible quality. Instead of grabbing the opportunities and different routes to commercialization, Biofidelity is conservative in its approach.

A few years into building the company, the team instituted project management processes and identified more than 50 ongoing projects run by a staff of less than 40 people. Instead of spreading themselves thin, they isolated a few crucial projects and concentrated their resources.

Building Biofidelity has been a personal development journey for Barney, coming from a technical background and operational role at Base4 to learning about the business side of the business. He transitioned to CEO, learning strategy and execution.

Barney stresses the importance of setting aside one’s ego and being aware of the gaps in his expertise, experience, and knowledge. He has worked hard to find top-quality talent and skill sets for Biofidelity. And, seized the opportunity to grow with the organization.

In Conclusion

Barney Balmforth’s story is one of perseverance, passion, and purpose, from his rural beginnings in southwest England to leading a revolutionary biotech company.

As Biofidelity continues to grow, Barney’s calculated risks will undoubtedly continue to pay off, both for his company and for the patients it serves.

Listen to the full podcast episode to know more, including:

• Barney Balmforth’s journey exemplifies calculated risk-taking and visionary leadership in the tech and biotech sectors.
• His early passion for science and academic background in quantum computing laid the foundation for his entrepreneurial pursuits.
• Dissatisfied with long academic timelines, Barney transitioned from academia to industry, seeking immediate impact through startups.
• Barney helped scale Base4, a genomics startup, from a small team to a leading player in DNA sequencing technology.
• His pivot to cancer diagnostics with Biofidelity aims to bridge the gap between targeted therapies and genomic testing access.
• Biofidelity’s decentralized genomic testing solution enables labs to run complex tests using existing equipment, increasing accessibility.
• Barney emphasizes the importance of focusing on a few high-quality projects and continuously learning as a leader.

 

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