Threefold Sensors

Threefold Sensors Combines Science with Business Savvy in Formula for Success
Ann Arbor biotech company used local resources and support to launch its business plan

“I came to Ann Arbor from California saying I was only staying for five years, and that was in 1971,” said Judith Erb. Now, Erb’s role as CEO of ThreeFold Sensors, LLC is helping the company evolve from a research lab into a commercial business.

ThreeFold Sensors is an Ann Arbor biotech company that makes biosensors – devices that can detect and measure substance concentration. In research, they can be used as measurement tools and are especially conducive to drug discovery. In medicine, biosensors can be used to detect and measure the presence of substances in the body. While the average lab test takes anywhere from four to 24 hours, ThreeFold Sensors’ products can measure with similar accuracy in three to six minutes.

After more than 15 years of development, ThreeFold Sensors expects to release its first medical diagnostic sensor to market in 2009. But the evolution of the company’s identity from a biotech lab to a commercial business has been a journey of its own.

“I’ve undergone a shift in the way I look at the world,” said Erb, “from a technical person whose world revolved around the product, to seeing the market and assessing what the customer needs from the product.”

ThreeFold Sensors was founded by Tim Henderson and Jim Downward in 1991, under the name IA, Inc., and remains a DBA of IA today. In its early years, the company was involved in a variety of development-stage products including artificial intelligence, biosensors, clinical software and insulation materials.

The year 2000 marked a change in ThreeFold Sensors’ business model, with the departure of its original CEO Tim Henderson and the focus of the company’s product development turning exclusively to biosensors. Erb assumed the role of CEO and observed that, while some “really nifty” environmental sensors had been developed, there was no market for them without government-mandated testing. She recognized a need to match the company’s scientific knowledge with business savvy.

Erb hired Geoff Henny as vice president of business development, attended commercialization classes with the National Institute of Health (NIH) and got involved with Springboard Enterprises, a nonprofit organization that supports women CEOs and entrepreneurs. Springboard provided Erb with contacts for ThreeFold Sensors’ key advisory board and scientific advisory board, which helped the company establish early credibility with potential investors. Additional help during the transition came from mentors at the New Enterprise Forum (NEF), SPARK and Biotechnology Business Consultants (BBC).

The most helpful lessons Erb said she took away from her classes were how to contour a presentation for a number different audiences, how to asses options for financing a business and their strategy implications, the necessary components of business plan development and how to think about market issues.

“The biggest thing for me was learning not to talk about the wonders of the technology all the time,” Erb noted. “I now have one technology slide in my presentation, and spend the rest of my time putting it into the context of the business case.

ThreeFold Sensors’ biggest milestones to-date have been the 44 federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants obtained, which supplied a total of $11.4 million in seed money; demonstrating the feasibility of its technology and completing a working prototype of its biosensor; obtaining nine patents and developing a business plan, which helped obtain a subsequent 2.6 million-dollar investment from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). ThreeFold Sensors also received the NEF award for best technology in 2005.

“We’re really starting to go full tilt, into the manufacturing stage with our point-of-care product that will likely be on the market in early 2009,” said Erb. The company will soon be hiring additional personnel to support its engineering and manufacturing needs.

Erb credits accessible resources like MEDC, SPARK, BBC and the University of Michigan with making the Ann Arbor area conducive to development-stage companies. “There are so many small high-tech companies – and some large ones - in Ann Arbor,” she said. “As a result, there is real resource availability during the course of business development. You don’t have to go to the East Coast or California, just across the street. Ann Arbor has abundant and capable biotech professionals with excellent creative problem-solving skills, as well as great business consulting resources like CJPS Enterprises.”

As ThreeFold Sensors advances to its manufacturing stage, Erb has noticed the region’s strength in that business and industry as well. “We’re talking to a number of local manufacturing companies,” she said. “We expect to find the resources for our next stage of business here is Michigan.”

During the coming year ThreeFold Sensors will focus on the necessary modifications in the engineering and design of its product to prepare it for point-of-care medical diagnostic use. Following FDA approval, the company will see its first product on the market.

“There are so many small high-tech companies – and some large ones - in Ann Arbor,” she said. “As a result, there is real resource availability during the course of business development. You don’t have to go to the East Coast or California, just across the street. Ann Arbor has abundant and capable biotech professionals with excellent creative problem-solving skills, as well as great business consulting resources like CJPS Enterprises.”

Judith Erb
CEO
Threefold Sensors