Delfi Diagnostics, a startup devising new ways to use routine blood draws to detect early signs of cancer, told STAT Thursday that it has appointed Susan Tousi, chief commercial officer for genomics giant Illumina, as its new CEO. She is the fourth senior executive to leave Illumina since June.
Tousi will start next week, just in time for the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, while founding CEO Victor Velculescu will remain on the company’s board to help guide its research programs. Tousi’s selection is part of a bid by Delfi to expand its commercial efforts and build on the initial launch of its lung cancer screening test last fall, the latest example of growing interest in the vast and increasingly competitive liquid biopsy market.
Illumina’s own ambitions to enter this space recently came undone after a prolonged battle with U.S. and European regulators finally pushed the company to announce last month that it would divest Grail, which it had acquired for $8 billion two years earlier. Bas Verhoef, Illumina’s head of region for Europe, will serve as interim chief commercial officer.