Safeguard Biosystems

Decision Point Diagnostics


About Us

Safeguard Biosystems is a molecular diagnostics platform  which has developed a product to identify an extensive menu of the most prevalent bacterial and fungal analytes. The product identifies the organisms present in a sample simultaneously, directly from a single 4 ml blood sample and our first product is designed to diagnose organisms leading to Sepsis, a condition that currently kills >11 million people every year.

Our system’s proprietary multiplexed PCR can deliver reliable and accurate results within hours  directly from whole blood, without the need for culture (current “gold standard” tests are less reliable and take at least 1-3 days). The system enables physicians rapidly to diagnose  the pathogens that cause a patient’s infection and prescribe appropriate antimicrobial therapy for singular or poly-microbial infections. Such earlier diagnoses can reduce morbidity and mortality as well as offering significant cost benefits for healthcare providers. Early and appropriate use of antibiotics is an important step in addressing the growing incidence of global antimicrobial resistance.

 Safeguard’s technology has been validated by a third party. New York State's Department of Health has approved the technology as a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT), and has also been adapted to detect pathogens in dairy cattle  directly from milk - ensuring safe dairy food and healthy herds.


          Management Team

George Aaron, CEO and Chairman  

George Aaron joined Safeguard in 2012 following an extensive career in the Life Science industry including working at Schering Plough. He has a track record of building companies and delivering successful exits, including two diagnostic companies

Howard Sherman, CFO 

Howard Sherman spent thirty years in corporate finance, private banking and business consultancy prior to joining Safeguard in 2006. He was previously at Charterhouse Bank, Unibank, and undertook Business Recovery.

Jon Coller, Chief of Strategy & Chief of Staff

Jon Coller joined Safeguard in 2024, having spent 7 years in strategy & operations roles, most recently at McKinsey & Company working strategic issues across growth, commercial optimization & transformation. Prior to this, he worked at Kraft Heinz developing the  alternative protein strategy.

Dr Holger Klapproth, Chief Scientific Officer

Dr Holger Klapproth has a masters degree in biology and a PhD in natural sciences. He started his professional career as head of lab at GeneScan Europe in 1997 quickly rising to head of R&D for Biochip Technologies - the high-tech part of GeneScan. He left GeneScan in 2001 to become an independent biotech advisor in the fields of diagnostic products and IP. He joined Safeguard in 2007 and currently holds the position of CSO. His scientific creativity is demonstrated by the more than 80 patent families he invented or co-invented.

Michael Locke, Head of Regulatory Affairs & Quality Management

Mr. Locke has been in the invitro diagnostic medical device sector for 20+ years, has held senior level management positions, as a Global Director of Regulatory Affairs, Quality Management & Clinical Affairs.  At Safeguard, Mr. Locke is responsible for Regulatory Affairs and Quality Compliance with his extensive experience in global regulations/standards to include MDD/IVDD, MDR/IVDR, US FDA CFR, CMDR/CMDCAS, ISO and post Brexit UK regulations. 

Dr Marilyn Owens, Head of Development

Dr Owens has thirty years’ experience in microbiology and immunology including leading clinical laboratories and consultancy. She has a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from UCLA.

          Scientific Advisory Board

Dr Natan Keller,  former Head of Infectious Disease Laboratory, Sheba Medical Center, Israel

Dr Arthur Rubenstein MBBCh, Professor of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, and was former Dean of School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania. He was also former Director of LabCorp and Dean of Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NY

Dr. Mervyn Singer, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at University College London. His primary research interests are sepsis and multi-organ failure, infection, shock and haemodynamic monitoring. He is Secretary (formerly Chair) of the International Sepsis Forum and led the ‘Sepsis-3’ international task force that re-defined sepsis in 2016.

Dr Mel Weinstein, Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Co-Director, Microbiology Laboratory at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Jersey

Fran White, President, Regulatory & Clinical Affairs at MDC Associates. Ms. White is a highly regarded IVD FDA regulatory expert.

Dr Stephen Young, Director of Research and Clinical Trials at TriCore Reference Laboratories, New Mexico