TwinStrand names Ron Andrews as permanent CEO after 2022 leadership shuffle

Seattle-based biotech startup TwinStrand Biosciences has named Ron Andrews as its new CEO.

Andrews is officially taking over the role almost a year after company founder Jesse Salk stepped down as CEO in October. TwinStrand named Chad Brown, a former executive at the Seattle-based research device company NanoString Technologies, as interim CEO, while Salk retained his role as chief scientific officer.

"The board felt it was important at this time to bring on an experienced executive," Chad Waite, chairman of the board at TwinStrand, said in a news release. "We are very enthusiastic about the future of TwinStrand."

Andrews was already TwinStrand's interim CEO in July when the company raised $10.3 million. He was previously managing partner at pH Blueprint, a consultancy based in Austin, Texas, that matches clients with experienced leaders. According to TwinStrand, Andrews has also held leadership roles at Oncocyte, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Clarient, which was purchased by GE Healthcare in 2010. He was CEO at both Oncocyte and Clarient.

TwinStrand, founded in 2015 as a University of Washington spinout, makes DNA sequencing kits. The company calls its technique "duplex sequencing," which it says reduces error rates from 1-in-100 to 1-in-10 million. DNA sequencing breaks down what genetic information is in what DNA segment.

"I am very excited to step into the role of CEO for a company with such a potentially game changing technology in oncology," Andrews said in the release.

TwinStrand says its technology can help researchers, doctors and public health officials. At the time of the leadership change in October, the company was going through layoffs. It hasn't said how many employees were impacted.

In addition to TwinStand's July funding, the company raised $50 million in May 2021.

Salk served as CEO for about four years before stepping down in October. He is a faculty member at UW and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and sees cancer patients at VA Puget Sound Health Care System.