Cofactor Genomics Announces CEO Change for Growth and OncoPrism Expansion
Cofactor Genomics, Inc., a leader in precision medicine through RNA decoding, has appointed Chris Parker as CEO and Board Member to drive the company’s efforts in advancing immunotherapy. At the same time, Cofactor’s founder, Jarret Glasscock, will transition to the role of President, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and Board Member.
Cofactor Genomics, Inc., a pioneering commercial-stage diagnostics company that bridges the precision medicine gap through RNA decoding, has announced an important leadership change. Chris Parker, a highly experienced leader with decades of expertise in biotechnology and diagnostics, has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board Member of the company. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for Cofactor, following the recent Medicare coverage of the company’s OncoPrism test, which identifies cancer patients who may benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy.
With this leadership transition, the company aims to accelerate its commercialization efforts to bring precision medicine to immunotherapy, ensuring that more patients have access to the benefits of OncoPrism. OncoPrism is a breakthrough diagnostic test designed to help physicians determine which patients are most likely to benefit from immunotherapy, a rapidly advancing treatment for various cancer types.
In a statement, Jarret Glasscock, Cofactor’s President, founder, and former CEO, expressed his confidence in Parker’s leadership and his excitement about the company’s future. “Cofactor has been on a mission, leveraging the greatest technological advancements of our generation to create a unique technology bringing precision medicine to immunotherapy,” Glasscock said.
“This year marks a new chapter at Cofactor, as we transition from R&D to the commercial phase of development in bringing OncoPrism to patients. Chris brings to Cofactor decades of experience and leadership in some of the most successful biotech and diagnostic organizations in our industry. Given Cofactor’s recent clinical, regulatory, and reimbursement milestones, I look forward to partnering with Chris to continue on this trajectory and ensure broad patient access to a solution desperately needed in oncology.”
Parker brings nearly three decades of experience in leadership roles at prominent biotechnology and diagnostics companies, making him well-equipped to guide Cofactor as it expands its reach. Before joining Cofactor, Parker held executive leadership roles at several notable companies, including Affymetrix, Cellular Dynamics, Exact Sciences, and Adela, among others. He has also served on numerous boards, providing strategic guidance to companies at various stages of development.
Reflecting on his new role, Parker expressed his enthusiasm about leading the company through this exciting phase. “As the company moves into this next exciting phase to bring much-needed clarity to help physicians better identify patients that will benefit from immunotherapies, I am honored that Jarret and the Board of Directors have the confidence in me to lead this next chapter,” Parker stated.
“I look forward to building on the great work already accomplished by complementing Jarret’s scientific leadership and bringing a strong commercial focus to the company. Cofactor’s OncoPrism technology represents a solution for immunotherapies currently being prescribed to cancer patients, but also may hold the key to practicing precision medicine in many of the therapies currently under development.”
The leadership transition comes shortly after a series of important developments for Cofactor. The company recently announced that OncoPrism received Medicare coverage for Head and Neck Cancer (HNSCC) patients, marking a major milestone in the test’s commercialization. Additionally, the company has achieved clinical validation of OncoPrism in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients, and it published its first clinical results from the PREDAPT national clinical trial. The trial demonstrated that OncoPrism achieved a three-fold increase in specificity over the PD-L1 test and a four-fold increase in specificity over Tumor Mutational Burden (TMB), both of which are widely used clinical tests for immunotherapy treatment guidance.
Cofactor plans to continue expanding OncoPrism’s clinical evidence base by evaluating its performance across 11 solid tumor cancers. These studies are part of the ongoing PREDAPT multi-site clinical trial (NCT04510129), which aims to provide deeper insights into the effectiveness of OncoPrism for a broader range of cancers. The company is ramping up commercialization efforts in the indications where OncoPrism is already clinically validated, including HNSCC and NSCLC, while pursuing its aggressive clinical evidence expansion.
Cofactor Genomics is transforming the healthcare landscape by unlocking the power of RNA in precision medicine. The company’s innovative work centers on its proprietary PRISM database, which houses patented Health Expression Models (HEMs). These models represent a breakthrough in the use of RNA for diagnostics, moving beyond traditional gene mutation panels and incorporating the latest advancements in machine learning. HEMs enable the company to transform billions of biological RNA data points into high-dimensional models of biology, disease, and therapy response.
Cofactor’s pioneering work in RNA modeling has garnered recognition from prestigious journals such as The Journal of ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, and Nature Scientific Reports, which hailed the company’s research as groundbreaking in cancer. Cofactor’s OncoPrism test is CAP/CLIA-validated and Medicare-approved, making it a vital tool in the growing field of immunotherapy.
Cofactor is also supported by a network of 38 healthcare systems, representing 20% of the U.S. healthcare market. This broad support positions Cofactor to have a far-reaching impact on the way cancer treatments are prescribed, further demonstrating the significance of its work in precision medicine.
As Cofactor enters this new chapter, the company’s leadership, under Chris Parker’s guidance, is poised to drive commercial growth, expand patient access, and continue advancing the field of precision medicine in immunotherapy. The combination of innovative technology, clinical validation, and strategic leadership promises to make a meaningful difference in the lives of cancer patients who may benefit from personalized immunotherapy treatments.
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