OPKO Health Elects President of Diagnostics Business

OPKO Health Inc., a Miami, Fla.-based biopharmaceuticals and diagnostics company, has named David Okrongly, Ph.D., as the new president of its diagnostics business unit.

Okrongly has extensive experience in developing and commercializing advanced diagnostic platforms. Prior to joining OPKO, he most recently served as chief operating officer of Exosome Diagnostics Inc. where he was responsible for establishing product, platform and regulatory strategy for the company’s proprietary technology for purifying RNA (ribonucleic acid) derivatives from exosomes. Prior to this, Okrongly served as president and chief executive officer of Quanterix Corporation, leading the company in the development of the first fully automated, single-molecule diagnostic platform reported to have 1,000 times better sensitivity than ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, a test that uses antibodies and color change to identify a substance). Okrongly also worked for Bayer Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, for over nine years and led the unit’s global research and development organization, launching platforms in immunoassay, hematology, clinical chemistry and molecular diagnostics. While at Bayer Diagnostics, he also served as senior vice president in charge of the molecular diagnostics business unit. Okrongly received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Ph.D. from Columbia University in New York, N.Y., both in chemistry.

“David’s profound industry knowledge will be invaluable as we near the U.S. commercial launch for our 4Kscore prostate cancer diagnostic test, advance the development of our point of care diagnostic platform, and continue to execute our strategy of establishing industry-leading positions in large and rapidly growing medical markets,” said Phillip Frost, M.D., chairman and CEO of OPKO. “We are extremely pleased to welcome David to OPKO.”

OPKO’s 4Kscore prostate cancer diagnostic test is hoped to accurately predict prostate cancer-positive biopsies. According to the company, this test could lead to a 50 percent decrease in unnecessary prostate biopsies. The test identifies kallikrein biomarkers, enzymes produced by the pancreas, which have been the subject of clinical research recently as possible indicators of cancer.