The Rutgers Board of Governors announced on Tuesday it has voted for Rutgers to receive $44.4 million for the spin-out of the RUCDR Infinite Biologics lab from Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
The new company will be called Infinity BiologiX and operate independently from Rutgers, but will retain its affiliation with the school. Dr. Andrew Brooks, the current chief operating officer of RUCDR Infinite Biologics, will become the new company’s CEO.
Infinity BiologiX will focus on RUCDR’s founding mission to understand the genetic causes of common, complex diseases and to discover, diagnose and treat them. Recently, it secured growth capital to continue developing a saliva test for COVID-19.
“The creation of Infinity BiologiX is a tremendous accomplishment for both RUCDR and Rutgers,” Brooks said. “This transition will allow us to grow the business in ways that were previously not possible and to create strategic and innovative solutions in all market segments. The new capital investment in the business will allow us to expand both physically and technologically to meet the demands of our current and future clients across all of our services. I am honored to have been chosen to lead Infinity BiologiX and to work with our incredible team on this new and exciting journey.”
Infinity BiologiX will provide New Jersey with access to 30,000 COVID-19 tests per day and will give Rutgers access to 10,000 tests per day for students, faculty and staff.
“Dr. Brooks and the entire RUCDR team are to be congratulated for their remarkable work, especially during this time of unprecedented challenge to our global well-being,” Christopher Molloy, chancellor of Rutgers-New Brunswick, said. “Their work typifies the kind of original and creative thinking that occurs regularly at Rutgers, which attracts private and public investment that benefits our society in so many ways.”
Viking Global Investors LP, a global investment management firm, will be a major investor in the new company once the deal has closed.
“We are a next-generation central lab that creates solutions for all industries using biomaterials in their discovery, product development and diagnostic programs,” Brooks said.
