SEER at JPM24
SEER inc. is a company that bridges the gap between classic Mass Spec-based proteomics and Next-Generation Proteomics techniques by improving the sample using their Proteograph technology before putting it on a Mass Spec machine.
The Proteograph technology enables scientists to prepare the samples that will go into an MS instrument so that they get better more actionable data out of the MS run.
Here is a highlight of their JP Morgan 2024 presentation.
Initial slide emphasizing the need for full characterization of the proteome.
The pitch from SEER is that heir Proteograph product line is opening up a new gateway to the proteome. The numbers going up yearly from low thousands to mid-thousands to 10,000+.
Applications range from protein isoform identification, protein variants, pQTLs to biomarker discovery, drug target discovery, model organisms and QC for biomanufacturing. The latter could be a big opportunity in Next-Generation Proteomics (NGPS).
The highlights for 2023 have to be around Proteograph XT, but also more to remove barriers and expand the commercial reach
The next slide is probably one of the most compelling: as we described in the Thermo Fisher at JPM24 long-form post, the new TMO Orbitrap Astral is now out in the market, and the capabilities of Astral complement really well what SEER has been doing in the last few years: 2.5x sample throughput.
A slide showing what this means from the comparison of “Neat Plasma” (untreated) compared to Proteograph samples, both for TMO Orbitraps and Bruker’s timsTOF instruments.
As the slide below shows, I am sure Thermo and Bruker are very interested in letting their potential customers know about what they can do with their instruments in combination with SEER’s Proteograph.
The company’s revenue is growing, but on an annual revenue basis, it’s still far away from the numbers we see in Next-Generation Sequencing companies: 7-digit revenues vs 9-10 digit revenues in NGS.
A slide showing examples of clinical utility, in this case for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
Another example, here for early lung cancer detection from customer data: Prognomiq.
Aging is a big deal, and getting bigger, here a slide showing animal models data (mouse) for an NIH study.
Overall, here are my thoughts on the strategic positioning of SEER within the Proteomics field: