Business Wire

MA-VELSERA

12.1.2023 19:41:38 CET | Business Wire | Press release

Share
New Company, Velsera, Represents Summa Equity's Vision to Improve Global Health Outcomes

New company Velsera was announced today at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, California. The vision for Velsera is supported by thematic-focused impact fund Summa Equity (“Summa”).

The promise of precision medicine is held back by barriers across routine health practice and discovery. Existing companies offer partial solutions, but no single company enables the unlocking of insights waiting to be revealed inside data - the status quo is siloed and disconnected. Velsera enables the democratization of omic data across clinical and research applications.

Velsera transforms science, technology, and informatics into an ecosystem of insight, making data actionable through the integration of a rich software platform, deep domain expertise, and knowledge that accelerate the pace and potential of multi-omics. Velsera sets out to amplify the impact of clinicians, researchers and scientists for the benefit of patients around the world.

Velsera’s initial formation comes with the acquisition of three global, industry-leading companies in the healthcare and life science industries: Pierian, Seven Bridges, and UgenTec. Velsera unites these companies to advance and bring together their missions which are centered around improving health globally through multi-omics and insights. The integrated business will remain actively engaged with existing customers, enhance current offerings, accelerate new offerings, and bring integrated solutions to market as the leading provider of global omics and insights.

  • Pierian (www.pieriandx.com) - Based in St. Louis, MO, Pierian is a global leader in clinical genomics technology and services supporting a network of laboratories around the globe. Pierian curates the world’s genetic knowledge and offers sophisticated analysis tools to allow for rapid, concise clinical reporting. Its advanced interpretation technology uses adaptive learning algorithms to connect diverse sources of information through machine learning to ensure results are comprehensive and up to date.

  • Seven Bridges (www.sevenbridges.com) - Boston, MA-based Seven Bridges enables researchers to extract meaningful insights from multi-omic, phenotypic and other high throughput data modalities. The Seven Bridges ecosystem consists of a scalable, secure multi-cloud analytic platform, petabytes of connected biomedical data and expert on-demand professional services.

  • UgenTec (www.ugentec.com) - Belgian-founded (with U.S. offices) UgenTec brings sample flow intelligence to labs, assay manufacturers and instrument partners to advance modern molecular diagnostics across routine and research applications. UgenTec software and AI solutions deliver workflow automation, testing result interpretation at scale and real-time insights for the digital, connected lab. UgenTec specialties include lab automation, PCR data analysis and clinical-grade software solutions.

Velsera, headquartered in Boston, will be led by CEO Gavin Nichols. Gavin was most recently CEO of the global Medical Imaging and eClincial company Calyx, a spinout from Parexel. He has 30+ years of business experience, with 20 years in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Notably, Gavin was a life science practice partner for several years at Unisys and spent over a decade at Quintiles as a Vice President, covering divisions such as Advanced Analytics, Innovation R&D, Customer Alliances and Partnerships. Nichols has also worked at Capgemini, Bioclinica, Perspectum Diagnostics, and Certara. As the Velsera CEO he will lead a diverse team of industry experts to advance precision medicine and close the value loop between clinical testing, health care and discovery of knowledge and insights for customers that improves global human health.

On leading Velsera, Nichols said: “I am very excited to launch Velsera and look forward to leading the highly accomplished teams from Pierian, Seven Bridges, and UgenTec. Our executive team has knowledge and experience that spans the ecosystem. Collectively we understand the unmet needs of customers and partners, how various stakeholders interact directly and indirectly, and how to uniquely address the unmet needs. As Velsera, we will catalyze the conversion of siloed, global data into insights from clinical and R&D settings to reveal the true promise of precision medicine. We will provide a continuous flow of knowledge among researchers, scientists and clinicians around the world to accelerate the impact of research, expand access to clinical care, and radically improve human health.”

“Summa is driven by a mission to improve the world, through our impact-focused investments in era-defining issues. We believe that the combination of these three leading healthcare and life sciences companies will accelerate innovation and deliver change at remarkable scale, contributing to the Summa thesis and our dedication to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Velsera’s creation meets UN SDG Goal 3, good health and well-being, by reducing the cost of development of new diagnostics, therapies and drugs, as well as increasing access for underserved populations, and driving global adoption of new bio-computational methods,” comments Hans Cobben, Chair of the Board of Velsera and thematic partner at Summa Equity.

About Velsera

Velsera is the precision engine company. We connect healthcare and life sciences to reveal the true promise of precision medicine - a continuous flow of knowledge among researchers, scientists and clinicians around the world, creating insights that radically improve human health. Today Velsera comprises three global, industry leading organizations in the healthcare and life science industries: Pierian, Seven Bridges, and UgenTec, and growth and expansion should be expected in 2023 and beyond. For more information: velsera.com

About Summa Equity

Summa invests in companies that are solving global challenges and creating positive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) outcomes for society.

Summa’s purpose is to co-create win-win for investors, portfolio companies, and society through aligning its vision and outcomes to the Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring a net-positive impact against ESG challenges, and the potential for long-term, sustainable outperformance.

Investments are focused on industries and companies that have tailwinds from megatrends within three sustainability themes: Resource Efficiency, Changing Demographics, and Tech-Enabled Transformation. Across these themes, Summa’s portfolio companies are supporting a world in transition and showing that business can be part of the solution. Summa Equity has c. EUR 4 billion assets under management. For more information: www.summaequity.com

To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230112005016/en/

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com
DK

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

From Network Automation to Agentic NetOps: NetBrain Sets the Standard for Deploying AI in Network Operations29.5.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

Newest expansion of the NetBrain platform delivers Agent Skills, AI Path Doctor, MCP Server, and expanded cross-domain integrations, extending the agentic capabilities already running in production at hundreds of enterprises. NetBrain Technologies, Inc. today announced major new platform features that advance Agentic NetOps from an emerging category to operational reality. NetBrain's clients are already deploying agents that are diagnosing and remediating issues across complex multi-vendor enterprise networks. These new features further extend the platform with new agent tooling, cross-domain context, and open interfaces for the broader agentic enterprise. Early customer outcomes show the magnitude of the shift: A leading health insurer used NetBrain's Deep Diagnosis agent to diagnose and resolve a weeks old VPN connectivity issue in under five minutes. A large manufacturer resolved a critical device issue with a single prompt, isolating the root cause across the network path in under

Adtran resolves long-running patent litigation, reinforcing commitment to defend innovation29.5.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release

News summary: Non-practicing entity litigation continues to create costly, time-consuming pressure across the technology industry Adtran has reached a full settlement following counterclaims, with payment made to Adtran and all claims dismissed with prejudice Outcome reflects Adtran’s commitment to defend its innovations, customers and business against meritless patent assertions Adtran today announced it has resolved a patent litigation matter, resulting in a full settlement and dismissal of all claims with prejudice. The case, initiated in 2020 by a non-practicing entity asserting five patents, was transferred to the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in 2021 following a successful motion by Adtran. Adtran subsequently filed counterclaims, including bad-faith patent assertion under Alabama statutory law. The settlement includes payment to Adtran to resolve its counterclaims. Terms of the agreement remain confidential. “This outcome reflects a disciplined and consi

Meiji Seika Pharma Invests in GHIC’s Global Health Security Fund29.5.2026 13:00:00 CEST | Press release

Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and Representative Director: Toshiaki Nagasato) today announced that it has committed to invest in the Global Health Security Fund (GHSF), which is sponsored by Global Health Investment Corporation (GHIC), a New York-based nonprofit organization. Through this investment, Meiji Seika Pharma will support the acceleration of innovations addressing critical global health challenges, including pandemic preparedness and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). GHIC is a mission‑driven nonprofit organization that deploys private investment strategies to generate both global health impact and financial returns. GHIC recently closed its second fund in GHSF. With more than a decade of experience investing in the field of infectious disease, GHIC has contributed to addressing major global health challenges. Its portfolio companies have successfully commercialized more than a dozen products, collectively reaching over 600 million people wo

IFF Enters Into Agreement to Sell Its Food Ingredients Business to CVC29.5.2026 12:50:00 CEST | Press release

Transaction advances portfolio transformation, sharpens focus on higher-growth, higher-margin businesses, strengthens balance sheet, and enhances value creation for shareholders IFF (NYSE: IFF), a global leader in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, and health and biosciences, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its Food Ingredients business to funds advised by CVC Capital Partners, a leading global private markets manager, in a transaction that values the business at approximately $4.3 billion, representing an enterprise value-to-EBITDA multiple of approximately 10x. As part of the transaction, IFF has chosen to retain an approximately 10% minority equity interest in the business, or approximately $200 million, permitting continued collaboration and cooperation between IFF and Food Ingredients and allowing IFF and its shareholders to participate in future value creation under its new ownership. The transaction marks a significant step in IFF’s portfolio tr

BeOne Medicines Establishes Standard for Long-Term Disease Control in CLL with BRUKINSA 78-Month Data at ASCO 202629.5.2026 12:00:00 CEST | Press release

Data represents the longest reported follow-up for a next-generation BTK inhibitor in CLL, showing sustained disease control and benefit that extends beyond first-line therapyBRUKINSA plus next-generation BCL2 inhibitor sonrotoclax (ZS) delivered deep, durable, and rapid uMRD responses, raising the bar for potential time-limited treatments in CLLData reinforce BeOne’s leadership in CLL and the strength of its foundational hematology franchise BeOne Medicines Ltd. (Nasdaq: ONC; HKEX: 06160; SSE: 688235), a global oncology company, is advancing the treatment paradigm in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. With extensive long-term follow-up, the SEQUOIA study of BRUKINSA® (zanubrutinib) reinforces its role as the foundational BTK inhibitor, showing sustained disease control over years of therapy. These findings are further supported by real-world evidence across three large analyses encompassing more than 250,000 pati

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye