Ubique Biotech

The problem we are addressing is the limited access to affordable and reliable diagnostic solutions, which is a significant challenge in many communities worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, around two-thirds of the world's population lacks access to basic diagnostic testing. This lack of access contributes to delays in diagnosis, increased disease transmission, and unnecessary deaths.

Infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, have highlighted the need for rapid and reliable diagnostic solutions that can be widely deployed. The pandemic has demonstrated that centralized laboratory-based testing is not scalable, especially in resource-limited settings, where diagnostic testing is often limited or unavailable.

At Ubique Bio, we are working to address the diagnostics gap problem by developing innovative technologies that are decentralized, cost-effective, and accessible. Our approach to designing synthetic peptides using AI and machine learning, bioinformatics, and peptide synthesis in bulk, enables us to create highly specific and sensitive diagnostic tests that can be produced at scale and deployed in a decentralized manner.

Our focus is on creating an affordable platform for peptide design, multiplexed diagnostics, and paper array devices that can be used for point-of-care testing. Our long-term vision is to develop a peptide printer that can synthesize peptides on-site, eliminating the need for centralized laboratories and transportation costs.

The impact of our solution is significant, with the potential to improve diagnostic testing for millions of people worldwide, especially in resource-limited settings. We aim to provide accessible, reliable, and scalable diagnostic solutions that can help reduce the diagnostic gap in the world.

Our solution aims to directly and meaningfully improve the lives of individuals and communities in low- and middle-income countries, as well as those in high-income countries where there is a need for more efficient and cost-effective diagnostic solutions. Even in countries with developed healthcare infrastructure, access to diagnostics can still be a challenge, particularly for marginalized communities or those living in remote areas.

The current reliance on expensive recombinant protein-based diagnostic tests can be reduced through the use of our synthetic peptide-based platform, leading to cost savings for healthcare providers and patients alike. By providing an affordable and scalable diagnostic platform, our solution can benefit a wide range of populations, from those in resource-limited settings to those in developed countries with established healthcare systems.

In addition, our solution can also benefit healthcare systems, such as Medicare, by reducing the overall cost of diagnostic testing. The impact of our solution can be significant, with the potential to save lives, reduce healthcare costs, and improve healthcare outcomes for millions of people. Overall, our goal is to ensure that everyone, regardless of their socio-economic status, has access to accurate and timely diagnostics, ultimately improving health outcomes and quality of life.

As a team of experienced scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs with a shared passion for making a positive impact on global health, we are uniquely positioned to deliver our solution. Our team includes individuals with diverse backgrounds, including synthetic biology, machine learning, biochemistry, and business development.

We have deep expertise in designing and implementing innovative solutions for global health challenges, and our proximity to the communities we serve is central to our approach. Our team has established relationships with local health organizations and stakeholders in several countries, and we regularly engage with these communities to understand their specific needs and challenges.

We have taken a community-driven approach to the development of our platform, incorporating feedback and insights from key stakeholders into our product roadmap and design process. Our team has also established a global network of advisors with expertise in global health, diagnostics, and entrepreneurship, who provide guidance and support throughout the development process.

In addition to our strong community engagement, we are well-positioned to deliver this solution due to our previous successes. We were invested through the GridX incubation challenge, won the UCR Riverside EPIC Challenge to gain access to customer discovery in the US, and won the Cytiva challenge, where we were invited to collaborate with them to develop our first multiplexed rapid test device in Germany. These achievements demonstrate our ability to innovate and deliver high-quality solutions.

In summary, our team's collective experience and expertise, coupled with our community-driven approach, place us in a strong position to design and deliver an impactful solution for global health challenges.

Our solution is a prototype because we have already developed synthetic peptides for several diseases, including toxoplasmosis, hepatitis C, herpes, and rubella. We have also successfully tested our peptides in immunoassays with patient sera, demonstrating their specificity and sensitivity. Additionally, we have partnerships with several institutions, including the INSP from the UNAM in Mexico, to conduct further immunoassay testing.

Furthermore, we have won multiple incubation challenges and have received pre-seed funding, which has allowed us to progress from a concept to a working prototype. For instance, we won the GridX incubation challenge, the UCR Riverside EPIC challenge, and the Cytiva challenge, where we were invited to collaborate with them to develop our first multiplexed rapid test device.

We have also developed a roadmap for our solution, which includes the development of an AI-powered platform to design synthetic peptides, a panel for multiplexed diagnostics, affordable paper array devices, and eventually a peptide printer that will allow us to synthesize peptides on-site, making our solution even more decentralized.

Overall, our solution is a prototype because we have already developed synthetic peptides and tested their efficacy, won several incubation challenges and received funding, and have a roadmap for future development. We are well-positioned to continue our work and make significant strides in solving the diagnostic gap in underserved communities.

As a prototype, our solution is not yet being used at scale, so we are not currently serving any specific number of people. However, we have developed and tested synthetic peptides for a range of infectious diseases, and we are actively engaging with potential partners to bring our solution to market. Our ultimate goal is to serve as many people as possible by providing efficient and affordable diagnostics for a variety of infectious diseases.

We see Solve as a valuable opportunity to connect with partners who can help us overcome some of the key barriers we currently face. Specifically, we are seeking to partner with organizations that can provide us with technical and financial support to help us scale up our solution, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where there is a significant unmet need for rapid and affordable diagnostics.

We hope that Solve can connect us with partners who can help us navigate the regulatory landscape in different regions, as well as provide us with access to funding opportunities and potential customers. We believe that Solve's focus on connecting Solver teams with a wide range of resources and support can help us accelerate the development and adoption of our solution, ultimately enabling us to reach more people and make a greater impact on global health.

UbiqueBio's solution is innovative in several ways. Firstly, it is centered around decentralizing diagnostics and bringing it closer to the point-of-care, enabling faster and more accurate diagnosis in resource-limited settings. Secondly, it combines cutting-edge bioinformatics and machine learning algorithms to design and synthesize peptides for rapid and multiplexed diagnostics, which is a novel approach compared to traditional methods of diagnostics.

Additionally, UbiqueBio's approach is focused on affordability and accessibility, with the aim to make high-quality diagnostics available to underserved populations globally. By providing an affordable and accessible solution, UbiqueBio could catalyze broader positive impacts by increasing the availability of diagnostics in low-resource settings, ultimately leading to better health outcomes for millions of people.

Moreover, UbiqueBio's technology has the potential to change the diagnostics market by disrupting the current centralized model and shifting it towards a decentralized one. This could lead to increased innovation and competition in the market, ultimately leading to better and more affordable diagnostics for all. Overall, UbiqueBio's innovative approach to decentralizing diagnostics, combined with cutting-edge bioinformatics and affordability, has the potential to significantly improve the field of diagnostics and impact the lives of millions of people globally.

In the next year, our goal is to develop and launch our first affordable paper array rapid diagnostic device for multiple diseases. This will enable healthcare professionals to make accurate and timely diagnoses, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where resources are scarce. We aim to impact at least 10,000 lives in the first year through our diagnostic tests.

In the next five years, we aim to have our rapid test device available for more than 20 diseases and have impacted over a million lives globally. We plan to do this by expanding our production and distribution capabilities to reach more people in need. Additionally, we plan to develop a peptide printer device that will allow us to produce synthetic peptides on demand, thus reducing the cost of production and increasing our scalability.

Our long-term goal is to revolutionize the field of decentralized diagnostics and bioinformatics by making accurate and timely diagnosis affordable and accessible to everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic status or geographic location. We believe that our innovative approach will catalyze broader positive impacts in the healthcare industry, changing the market and ultimately improving health outcomes for millions of people worldwide.

At UbiqueBio, we measure our progress towards our impact goals through several indicators:

1. Number of diagnostic tests distributed: We will track the number of our rapid diagnostic tests that are distributed and used in the field to assess the impact of our solution on communities.

2. Cost per test: We monitor the cost per test, as our goal is to have an affordable test device in the market for less than one US dollar.

3. Accuracy and sensitivity of tests: We measure the accuracy and sensitivity of our tests to ensure that they meet or exceed industry standards.

4. Expansion of test menu: We aim to expand our test menu to include more infectious diseases, and we track the development and implementation of each new test.

5. Adoption by healthcare providers: We measure the adoption of our tests by healthcare providers to assess how well our solution is being integrated into healthcare systems.

6. Feedback from end-users: We gather feedback from end-users, including patients and healthcare workers, to continually improve the user experience and ensure our solution meets their needs.

UbiqueBio's theory of change is centered on the development and deployment of decentralized and affordable diagnostic solutions that can provide rapid and accurate disease detection, particularly in low-resource settings.

Our solution is based on two main approaches. Firstly, we are developing a rapid test device that uses synthetic peptides to detect multiple diseases simultaneously, with a target cost of less than $1 per test. This device will be easy to use, does not require specialized equipment or training, and will provide results in minutes, enabling timely treatment and containment of diseases.

Secondly, we are developing a synthetic peptides printer device that can produce peptides rapidly and inexpensively. This will enable us to create a library of disease-specific peptides and tailor them to the specific needs of different regions and populations. By decentralizing the manufacturing process and bringing it closer to the end-users, we can reduce costs, increase efficiency, and provide a more customized solution.

Through these approaches, we aim to increase access to accurate and affordable diagnostics, leading to earlier disease detection, better disease management, and ultimately improved health outcomes. We will measure our impact by tracking the number of tests performed, the number of diseases detected, and the number of lives saved. Additionally, we will evaluate the effectiveness of our solution through rigorous testing and clinical trials, and seek feedback from our target population to ensure that our solution is meeting their needs.

Our solution at UbiqueBio utilizes a combination of technologies to address the challenge of decentralized diagnostics and bioinformatics. The core technology behind our solution is the development of affordable, rapid diagnostic tests using synthetic peptides as biomarkers. Our peptide printer device will enables us to rapidly develop and print customized peptides that can be used in immunoassays to detect various diseases. 

Additionally, we utilize mobile technology to make our solution more accessible to people in remote areas who may not have easy access to healthcare facilities. Our mobile app will allows users to quickly and easily perform tests and receive results, which can then be stored securely on the cloud for future reference. 

Finally, we leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze and interpret the data generated from these tests, which allows us to identify patterns and trends that can inform disease prevention and treatment strategies.

To validate the peptides as a technology for diagnostics, we use immunoassays, which are laboratory techniques that detect and measure the concentration of a specific molecule, such as a protein, in a biological sample.

The immunoassays involve coating a plate with the peptide antigen and then exposing it to a patient's blood serum. If the patient has been infected with the disease, their serum will contain antibodies that will bind to the peptide antigen on the plate. We can then detect the presence of these antibodies using a detection system, such as an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or a lateral flow assay.

By using immunoassays to validate the peptides, we can determine whether they are effective at detecting specific diseases and whether they have high sensitivity and specificity. This is important for ensuring that our technology works reliably and accurately.

At UbiqueBio, we believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical components of our work. Our team is proud to be majority Latinx and to have a strong representation of women, with 50% of our team identifying as female. We recognize that diverse perspectives and experiences are essential for driving innovation and creating impactful solutions, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone can contribute their unique strengths.

To ensure that we continue to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work, we have set goals to increase the diversity of our team and leadership, as well as to create a more inclusive workplace culture. We have taken steps such as actively seeking out diverse candidates in our hiring processes and providing training and resources for our team on topics such as unconscious bias and cultural competency.

We believe that our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion not only strengthens our team and our work, but also helps us better serve the communities we aim to impact.

At UbiqueBio, our business model is a B2B approach, targeting diagnostic companies, hospitals and clinics, NGOs, and other private companies in the health industry. We provide high-quality peptides for diagnostic purposes, specifically for early detection of cancer and infectious diseases. Our peptides can be used in a variety of diagnostic devices and tests, and we plan to offer licensing deals for the use of our devices.

Our key customers and beneficiaries are those who seek accurate and affordable diagnostic tests. We aim to provide value to these populations by offering high-quality peptides at a competitive price point, enabling diagnostic companies and hospitals to expand their services and reach more patients in need. Our peptides are designed to be highly sensitive and specific, making them ideal for early detection of diseases when treatment is most effective.

To provide our products and services, we plan to sell the peptides as reagents for laboratory and R&D use in the short term, with licensing deals for diagnostic devices and tests in the long term. We aim to bootstrap our operations initially, and we will also search for grants and investment opportunities to help fund our growth.

Ultimately, our goal is to become financially sustainable by providing a valuable service to our customers and beneficiaries at an affordable price point, while also expanding our reach to more communities in need of accurate and affordable diagnostic tests.

As a bootstrapped startup, our plan for becoming financially sustainable includes multiple revenue streams. In the short term, we plan to sell the peptides we develop as reagents for laboratory and R&D use, generating revenue from our target market of scientists and researchers. Additionally, we are actively seeking grant opportunities to support our research and development efforts.

In the mid-term, we plan to establish licensing agreements with larger companies in the diagnostic and healthcare industries to commercialize our technology and generate additional revenue. We are already in talks with several potential partners, and we anticipate closing our first licensing deals before the end of the year.

As we continue to grow and expand, we may also explore other revenue streams such as selling our own diagnostic tests or providing services to governments and healthcare organizations. Our ultimate goal is to become financially sustainable by generating enough revenue to cover our expected expenses and invest in further research and development to continue making an impact in the field of diagnostics.

As a new company, UbiqueBio has achieved some early successes in its plan for achieving financial sustainability. We have received positive feedback from customer discovery sessions with diagnostic companies, hospitals and clinics, NGOs and other private companies working in the health industry. Our goal to deliver multiple tests for less than one US dollar has been well received by potential customers.

We have also won a couple of challenges related to health innovation, which has brought us some seed funding to support the development of our product. Additionally, we have established partnerships with research institutions to validate the effectiveness of our technology, which has helped us to build credibility in the market.

Overall, these early successes have helped us to build momentum and attract interest from potential investors and collaborators, and we are confident that with continued hard work and dedication to our mission, we will achieve financial sustainability in the long term.