Yanwu Guo and Zhuokun Li are the co-founders of Helixy AS, a brand-new company established in September 2023 with the aim to make molecular diagnostics more efficient and accessible for the pet industry.
Guo got the idea for a rapid and compact diagnostic device and started exploring his innovation journey when he was a postdoc at the Department of Biosciences at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Oslo (UiO).
In 2022, he reached out to the newly established innovation unit of the university, the UiO Growth House, that helped him conduct an extensive market analysis in hopes of finding a niche market for his molecular diagnostic device for infectious diseases They identified that there was a significant need in the pet industry for detecting animal diseases at a faster and cheaper rate.
– We see that there is a great need in the pet market. And they are performing the tests, but they are unable to get immediate results. It is also an economic burden to the pet owners, says Guo.
Samples from the veterinary clinics usually need to be sent out to a centralized, reference lab for testing where there are trained personnel that can do these tests. In some cases, samples need to be sent out to other countries which further increases the result turnover time. The current gold standard methods are based upon the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and are quite limited in terms of its accessibility as not all clinics or laboratories have the resources nor infrastructure to do these tests in-house. And those equipped with the required infrastructure and resources often require multiple steps with minimal automation which introduces a disposition for human error.
Guo and Li aim to use cutting-edge CRISPR technology to detect the nucleic acid molecules (DNA and RNA) and microfluidics in a compact point-of-care device with an integrated reporting system that would not only generate almost instant quantitative results but also increase the efficiency of the test and decrease the costs.
– Our solution is to provide a quicker, more accurate and easier to operate system with minimal human error, says Guo.
Guo and Li are hoping to take advantage of the existing infrastructure and the trained personnel in the existing local facilities specifically veterinary clinics to supplement the use of this molecular diagnostic device.
How it all began
The core values that brought this research duo together were curiosity and the inherent drive to innovate.
Guo, a previous engineer/postdoc at the University of Oslo has always been particularly curious with how instruments work and began his innovation journey by designing a small instrument himself to help with his research. He taught himself electronics and equipped this knowledge with programming skills from his data analysis work on high-throughput sequencing data during his PhD in Poland. This small device is now part of the invention in the research and is the important foundation of the current work.
Li has a PhD in CRISPR gene editing from the Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway at the Faculty of Medicine at UiO and already has experience working in the industry both in startup and a large corporation back in Shenzhen, China, before she started her PhD. With the passion to continue working in the startup world and the dream to investigate how the CRISPR system could be a tool for molecular diagnostics, she sought out other researchers in Oslo who she could collaborate with and found Guo. With the engineering skills of Guo and the strong biochemistry techniques and knowledge of Li, Helixy AS was born.
Communication is key – speaking the right language
Transitioning from a researcher into an entrepreneur is a challenging undertaking. The key to a successful transition is communication and having a growth mindset to push through towards the end goal.
According to Guo, the UiO Growth House has been instrumental in providing him with the support he needed to kickstart their idea to make it a reality. Alongside help with performing the extensive market analysis, he received one-on-one mentoring from his innovation adviser and guidance in improving his communication skills and the relevant contacts to transform his research idea into a tangible product.
– The UiO Growth House provides a comprehensive package necessary for taking your research to market. This includes market research, collaboration opportunities, and entrepreneurship training, all aimed at helping you understand what is important from the beginning, and the first skill I improved or learned is communication, says Guo.
The most important communication skill that Guo learned is to effectively communicate his research idea to different stakeholders, and throughout this challenging process of transition into an entrepreneur, Guo has also learned to be more self-aware of his reactions towards this transition and using these reactions as tools for self-improvement.
– The training and opportunities they offer, along with the challenges, serve as a push for personal growth as well. It's not just about advancing your idea but also about your personal growth, says Guo.
Collaboration with the UiO Growth House has also provided Guo with other types of essential support which comprise of seed funding from the UiO Growth House, entrepreneurial training through the Aleap Bootcamp as well as help to secure seed funding from the Research Council of Norway to start Helixy AS. This funding was vital for continuing experiments and outsourcing some of the project tasks.
– I think it is important that you persist in keeping up with yourself and do what you believe. There are many small things that happened in life teaching me how to adjust and try to keep doing it. It will work in the end, says Guo.
Startup culture in Oslo is only just beginning
Li likened the startup culture in Shenzhen in China to the Silicon Valley in USA where the startup and entrepreneurship culture is significantly more robust and dynamic in comparison to Oslo. She thinks that the UiO Growth House provides an avenue to grow the startup culture here in Oslo.
– I think this is a relatively good strategy to foster this entrepreneurship culture here, says Li.
Though Li’s interaction with the UiO Growth House has not been as extensive as Guo’s, she comments that the UiO Growth House is a start for the university to establish an entrepreneurial spirit within the university by bridging research results and help to develop it into more tangible products that improve people’s (and animals’) lives.
The future
Guo and Li are now focused on developing their molecular device prototype in the next few months and to apply for more funding to further develop their ideas as well as for the next phases of commercialization and marketing.