Tokyo-based technology and imaging company Konica Minolta (KM) has announced the appointment of Jack Hoppin, PhD, as president of its precision medicine initiatives.
Hoppin had been serving as president and CEO of Invicro, a Boston-based offshoot of KM that works in the development of precision drugs. Following his shift to a new role, Matthew Silva, PhD, is taking over as chief executive of Invicro, which Hoppin originally founded.
KM first acquired both startup Invicro and Ambry Genetics Corporation in 2017 to help speed up its goals of accelerating healthcare’s move to precision medicine. The initiative will now work to further its goals through advancements in genetics, imaging and digital pathology, the company noted in a Dec. 23 announcement.
“It has been an extreme honor to serve as Invicro’s CEO since co-founding the company in 2008,” Hoppin said in a statement. “This is an exciting time for Invicro, Ambry and Konica Minolta Precision Medicine (KMPM), as we are all working together to support the medical research community through integrated AI technology platforms that allow molecular-level testing and analysis offering insights to advance translational medicine.”
In his new role, Hoppin will now focus on synergizing the three disparate companies under one precision medicine umbrella. They’re hoping to eventually help guide imaging professionals in the development of targeted therapies through genetic and molecular profiling, the announcement noted.
Meanwhile, Silva will oversee Invicro in its continuing mission to support the discovery and development of new drugs. With expertise in imaging and chemistry, the company is working in therapeutic areas that target everything from the central nervous system to oncology care and rare diseases. It also has a data informatics platform that allows for the management and analysis of radiological imaging data, the announcement noted.
“It’s an exciting time for Invicro, as we continue to make great strides with our pharma services capabilities offering imaging biomarkers, advanced analytics, innovative chemistry and technologies and global core lab services,” added Silva, who first joined Invicro in 2012 and previously served as executive vice president of scientific applications.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.