Jeffrey N. Peterson, CEO, brings broad executive general management, multi-functional, multi-business and international experience to Target Discovery. He spent 9 years in key management roles in Abbott Laboratories’ Diagnostics and International (Pharmaceuticals, Hospital Products, Nutritionals, Consumer) businesses. He most recently served as CEO and General Manager of Abbott South Africa, doubling the sales and tripling the income of this 50 year-old business in 3.5 years, during the tumult of South Africa’s political transition. He played an earlier pivotal management role in Abbott’s successful introduction and support of multiple new diagnostics instrument and reagent systems in the history-making X-System series, including the IMx (the highest global sales diagnostic system in history). Mr. Peterson's experience prior to Abbott included 11 years with General Electric’s Engineered Materials and Plastics businesses, spanning roles in strategic planning, business development, technology licensing, marketing/sales, operations/quality and R&D. Mr. Peterson holds BSChE and MSChE (Chemical Engineering) degrees from MIT. He serves as Chairman of the BayBio Institute, a non-profit organization serving the regional life science community, and on the Board of BayBio, the trade association for the life sciences industry in Northern California. He is a co-founder of the Coalition for 21st Century Medicine, and of BIO's Research Tools & Molecular Diagnostics Working Group.
Target Discovery is developing the next generation of clinical diagnostics, offering higher value molecular insights for the diagnosis and management of disease. The company’s initial commercial focus is on the new class of protein isoform biomarker diagnostics (Isonostics™) that better guide therapeutic choices for cancer and lower the overall costs of cancer treatment. The company engages in funded collaborations with partners, for application of its unique isoform-level technologies in other disease areas and in theranostic applications (diagnostic testing to select or disqualify patients for a specific drug therapy). Isonostics refers to diagnostic tests based on protein isoforms. Traditional immunodiagnostic assays report the overall up- or down-regulation of a parent protein family, typically combining all isoforms of that protein into the result (causing loss of specificity and sensitivity). Molecular diagnostics (DNA/RNA level) offer insights into single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and splice variants, which account for only a small portion of all protein isoforms. Target Discovery's Isonostic assays do capture and quantify expressed mutations (SNPs) and splice variants, but ALSO quantify the much wider variety of post-translational modifications (PTMs) that are not currently differentiated by existing clinical diagnostic products but are typically the critical determinants of disease conditions and treatment optimization.
