Former Google executive to lead cancer diagnostics firm – Reuters

Grail, a medical firm creating a blood test for very early cancer detection, named former Google X Senior Vice President Jeff Huber as its CEO Wednesday.

Huber said he wishes to use his experience building large-range data units to enhance the gene sequencing technology made use of by Grail to detect cancerous material in patients that prove to no symptoms of the disease.

San Francisco-based Grail was formed by gene sequencing business Illumina Inc and received much more compared to $100 million in Collection A financing. Illumina is the majority owner. Crucial investors contain technology giants Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, too as ARCH Endeavor Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures.

“Jeff helped Google map the world, and he’ll suggestions us map the molecular biology of the microscopic cancer DNA that could be circulating in our blood,” said Grail board chair and Illumina CEO Jay Flatley.

Huber owned much more compared to a decade of experience building the units that regulate and analyze the data made use of for AdWords, Google Maps and the Google Apps suite prior to he joined Google X in 2013. It was at the study facility, known for creating self-driving cars and delivery drones, that Huber kicked off his next professional adventure of pairing data and life sciences.

The job took a deeply individual transform for Huber a couple of months after the modification at Google as quickly as his wife, Laura, was diagnosed along with Phase IV colon cancer. She died of the health problem in November after just what he called an “very brave 18-month battle.”

“I owned currently been ramping up about the biology and science behind this then there was this rather poignant reminder of the implications that there has actually to be a much better method to do this,” said Huber.

For the next 3 years, Huber said Grail’s objective is to observe the technology behind cancer detection and place improved and to start large-range clinical trials of its cancer-detection system.

The very first target market for testing will certainly be people along with a genetic predisposition to cancer, when it’s cleared for prevalent use. The best objective is to observe it made use of as “Section of annual bodily exams,” Huber said.

(Editing by Stephen R. Trousdale and Andrew Hay)