How a Santa Cruz Startup Uses “Point of Need Tests” to Tackle Neglected Diseases

Sergio Barberan-Soler outside of the RealSeq Biosciences lab.

Sergio Barberan-Soler, founder of RealSeq Biosciences (RealSeq), a Santa Cruz biotech start-up that specializes in developing innovative technologies for biomarker discovery, liquid biopsy, and single-cell analysis in the fields of cancer and infectious diseases, plans to use the company’s powerful expertise to develop simple “point of need tests” (PONTs) to serve disadvantaged populations across the Central Coast.  Point of need tests allows for rapid diagnosis, for example, directly testing workers in the fields or at the site of outbreaks.

Christian, a RealSeq research assistant, uses the Mantis Nano-Dispenser, a liquid handling robot, to set up multiple small-scale chemical reactions.

Originally from Mexico City, Barberan-Soler was not surprised that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed huge barriers to diagnostic testing and treatment among disadvantaged populations such as farm workers. The pandemic accelerated the need to create a simple PONT platform to improve access to testing for many of the diseases that are neglected by major diagnostic companies and that disproportionately strike underserved communities. It also highlighted using RNA itself as a tool for unprecedented rapid and effective vaccine development.

Sergio hopes to pivot RealSeq’s RNA expertise to develop PONTs for neglected diseases such as Valley Fever prevalent in the farmworker communities of California’s Central Valley and often mistaken for other pneumonia-causing infections such as COVID-19.  Rapid “point of need” diagnosis is important because it would dramatically increase access to testing as well as allow for more accurate identification of the infectious agent. This leads to improved treatments and patient outcomes while helping to contain outbreaks.

RealSeq research assistant, Heather, loads miRNA libraries into the Illumina NextSeq 550 sequencer, which will determine the nucleotide sequence of the miRNA samples in just 12 hours.

It can often be difficult to secure funding for research, but Sergio was fortunate to be able to utilize his National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research in novel RNA technologies to contribute to developing PONTs to address the unmet needs initially in our local disadvantaged populations with plans to tackle neglected diseases at the global level as a long term goal.  

RealSeq’s technology also includes a specialized platform to analyze RNA at the smallest level- virtually a single cell- which has potential for both diagnostics and therapeutics across many infectious diseases as well as cancer.  

Sergio believes RealSeq’s initial focus on using RNA as a biomarker for disease and the company’s on-site expertise in Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) coupled with its RNA detection platform serves as a strong basis for the company’s testing development capability. Further supporting RealSeq’s goal to develop PONTs is the custom RNA sequencing services and RNA detection products that they offer to customers in life science research. The company’s RealSeq® small RNA sequencing products and NGS services are sold worldwide both directly and through distribution partnerships. 

By offering RealSeq’s technologies directly to customers, the company also benefits from receiving customer feedback which is critical to continuous technology improvement and can be leveraged to support the development of the company’s PONT platform. 

Sergio has strong ties to the area having completed his Ph.D. in Al Zahler’s lab at UC Santa Cruz. He and his family have since made Santa Cruz and the Central Coast their home. Located on the Westside near to the UCSC Genomics Institute and the SandBox start-up incubator, Sergio is looking forward to RealSeq’s continued participation in the local biotech scene as well as the opportunity to employ RealSeq’s technology to serve the local community.