Nicolas Durand is the CEO of Abionic, a Swiss-based startup which developed and commercialises the abioSCOPE®, a unique diagnostic platform characterised by its compact size and ability to deliver high quality results in a fraction of time.
 

Passionate about high tech and wishing to become an entrepreneur from a very early age (he created his first company with a friend at school when he was 14 years old) he turned his PhD work into a venture, which today represents one of the most successful medtech startups in the country!

We discuss with Nicolas the nanotechnology behind Abionic, the types of tests it can run, the targeted diseases, the efforts it takes to demonstrate the clinical efficacy of a new diagnostic device, but also the energy required to convince all the actors involved in the care pathway, from regulators, doctors, to patients.
 

He also shares openly about his vision regarding the potential emergence of home diagnostic systems in the future, as well as his perspective on the impact that the Theranos scandal had on the diagnostics industry, and in particular on startups operating in this field.
 

A conversation under the sign of resilience and excellence that we invite you to discover in this new episode!
 

Timeline:

• 01:15 - Nicolas’ background and his original interest in high technology and entrepreneurship

• 03:12 - Creating your first company at 14 years old

• 05:59 - What Abionic is about and how its core diagnostic technology works

• 20:50 - Miniaturizing diagnostic tests beyond immunoassays

• 24:12 - The clinical settings where the abioSCOPE® is placed

• 26:35 - Towards the use of diagnostic systems at home

• 31:20 - The impact of the Theranos scandal on medtech startups
   

What we also talked about with Nicolas:

• Philippe Renaud

• Robopoly

• PSP

• Sepsis

• IVDR

• Elizabeth Holmes

• Red Bull Air Race
   

We cited with Nicolas some of the past episodes from the series:

• #4 - Fighting sepsis with nanoengineered beads to filter the blood - Lukas Langenegger - Hemotune

• #5 - Transforming diagnostics through spatial biology - Déborah Heintze - Lunaphore

• #12 - Unleashing the power of digital health - Daniel Kraft - Digital.Health

• #13 - Catalyzing drug discovery using organ-on-a-chip models - Bas Trietsch - Mimetas

As mentioned in the episode, you can learn more about Abionic through their website and follow their activities on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook!
 

Based on Nicolas’ suggestion, we invite you to read Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou to learn more about Elizabeth Holmes and the scandal around Theranos which literally shook the whole medtech industry in the past years!
 

If you want to get in touch with Nicolas, feel free to contact him per email at nicolas.durand@abionic.com or through LinkedIn.
 

If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or per email at mathieu@impulsepodcast.com.
 

And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive review on streaming platforms!
 

Finally, you can follow our activities through our website, over LinkedIn, Twitter or on Instagram!