As part of Sense Biodetection's accelerator programme to launch its disposable point-of-care molecular COVID-19 test, it has recruited revered diagnostics industry veteran John Bishop as its non-executive director.

John, a recipient of an Ernst and Young Entrepreneurial award, was CEO at Cepheid for 14 years before its acquisition by Danaher for €4billion. In this role, he was instrumental in Cepheid’s transformation and rapid growth into a class-leading molecular diagnostics company and oversaw the successful launch and commercialization of its GeneXpert and GeneXpert Xpress systems.

Before Cepheid, John was President of genomics disease management company Vysis before its purchase by Abbott. 

As a diagnostics industry leader with more than 50 years of experience in the field, John will perform a pivotal strategic role at Sense as the company rapidly scales up production and distribution of its first products, including its COVID-19 test, Veros™ SARS-CoV-2.

Commenting on his appointment John Bishop said: "The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent global need for broadly disseminated point-of-care molecular diagnostic tests, such as Sense’s instrument-free Veros, to help enable infectious disease outbreaks to be contained. I look forward to supporting the company through the scale-up and commercialisation of its first products."

Harry Lamble, chief executive officer at Sense, commented:"I am thrilled to welcome John Bishop to Sense’s board. His remarkable expertise and experience will greatly support our efforts to launch the world’s first instrument-free molecular diagnostic test for COVID-19, and to shape our future product pipeline."