New Proteome boss talks of company in transition

New Proteome Systems chief executive Stephen Porges (ASX:PXL) believes the company is caught in the middle of a typical biotech transformation from its original focus as a tools business to a diagnostics and therapeutics business -- which is where its real future lies.

"So many biotechs throughout the world have come out of a tool-type business and ended up being a diagnostics and therapeutics business," said Porges, who this week replaced Keith Williams at the helm of Proteome Systems."The history of proteomics is so young."

But that doesn't mean the instruments side of Proteome's business is likely to be sold, he said. "Can I do my diagnostics and therapeutics without the tools? No. There are too many links between the therapeutics and the diagnostics that you can't just sell things out. It's integral in the business. It's the art behind the R&D."

Porges has a science background -- he earned a BSc in agriculture, along with an MBA from the University of Sydney -- but he identifies as a banker, having spent the past 20 years in international investment banking and stockbroking at CSFB and HSBC.

He headed back to Australia to become chairman of technology solutions and IT services company Hyro (ASX:HYO), taking the company through a "rejuvenation" process. He hopes to do the same at Proteome Systems, and is looking to strike new partnerships and extend current partnerships.

"We are more advanced in getting a point-of-care TB diagnostic test than any group that I have come across," he said. "It's fantastic that we build great tools but we need to partner the selling of those tools, and we shouldn't spend money on them unless we're selling them."

Williams, who founded Proteome Systems and who has been its CEO since 1999, will stay on at the company in a senior executive role and will also remain on the board.