Genetics Squared’s cancer test to create 15 jobs in Ann Arbor

Genetic Squared thinks it’s onto something big when it comes to cancer treatment. The Ann Arbor-based firm is close to marketing a prognostic test for a certain type of cancer. It’s a test company officials believe could lead to significant cost savings in treatment.”This is potentially a very big deal,” says Bill Worzel, CEO of Genetics Squared.About 70 percent of the cancer patients that could use the test don’t need to undergo chemotherapy after successful removal surgery. The remaining 30 percent do and they face grave consequences if they don’t get it soon after their operation.Genetics Squared’s test would be able to tell which category the patients fit into, potentially saving hospitals loads of money in unnecessary treatment and patients debilitating chemotherapy. The company hopes to begin marketing the test by the third quarter of this year.”We think the uptake will be pretty quick,” Worzel says. “A lot of people will be talking about it by January, 2010.”He adds that the product, one of the first to come from the human genome project, helped the company land a $1.6 million investment from the Michigan 21st Century Jobs Fund and another $500,000 in additional venture capital. Genetics Squared started in 2002 with two people. Today it employs eight people full-time, a handful of independent contractors and the occasional intern. It just hired two people last year and expects to hire another 4-5 people this year. Another 10 people are expected to come on board in 2010.Source: Bill Worzel, CEO of Genetics SquaredWriter: Jon Zemke