A History of Biodesix, A Historical Perspective of Biodesix

Biodesix Perspective | August 10, 2026

A History of Biodesix, A Historical Perspective of Biodesix

Over the last 20 years, Biodesix has moved through several phases of its company lifecycle:

  • 2005–2014: The Early Years of Oncology Research
  • 2014–2020: A Lung Cancer Focus
  • 2020–2022: A Temporary COVID Testing Pivot due to global pandemic
  • 2022–present: The Return to Lung Health—plus expansion of a second global business line, Biodesix Development Services.

Throughout the various company phases, one thing has remained consistent: commitment to the Biodesix Mission and the healthcare professionals and patients they serve.

2006–2014: Biodesix Early Years in Oncology Research

The company was originally founded as Elston Technologies, Inc in 2005 by Rob Cawthorn, Heinrich Roder, DPhil, and David Brunel. In 2006, they changed the company name to Biodesix and announced a bold vision to transform patient care through innovative diagnostics and deliver answers that matter when they matter most.

The company name, Biodesix, was inspired by the mathematics and scientific measurement of “geodesics”—a measurement of the shortest path between two points on a sphere. The original vision for Biodesix was to “accelerate diagnostic processes in complex disease states”, in other words, “to become the shortest path to personalized diagnostics.”

2009: Biodesix launched the VeriStrat proteomic test for multi-cancer diagnostics with the goal of stratifying patient populations to more precise and personalized drug therapy treatment protocols. The test and its subsequent offspring were developed using state-of-the-art proprietary machine learning algorithms, first with ProTS and then in the Diagnostic Cortex AI platform.

2014–2020: Biodesix Lung Cancer Focus and Commercial Excellence

2014: Biodesix shifted its focus into Lung Cancer and commercial excellence with the first prospective biomarker-stratified validation study published in The Lancet Oncology, “Predictive value of a proteomic signature in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer treated with second-line erlotinib or chemotherapy (PROSE): a biomarker-stratified, randomised phase 3 trial”.

2015: Biodesix used its advancements from GeneStrat ddPCR test and VeriStrat test to launch the Biodesix Lung Reflex (BLR) testing strategy, a novel multi-omic approach to diagnostic testing. This testing strategy allowed physicians to optimize personalized treatment decisions.

2018: Biodesix acquired Integrated Diagnostics for the technology that is now known as Biodesix Nodify XL2 test.

  • These two blood-based proteomic tests (Nodify CDT test and Nodify XL2 test) are included in the Biodesix Nodify Lung Nodule Risk Assessment. Nodify Lung testing helps healthcare professionals to reclassify risk of malignancy for lung nodules and assists in more quickly stratifying patients into distinct, personalized care pathways.

2019: Biodesix acquired Oncimmune USA and the CLIA-certified Laboratory in De Soto, Kansas for the technology that is now known as the Biodesix Nodify CDT test.

2020: Global Pandemic Caused Biodesix COVID-19 Testing Pivot

Biodesix partnered with Bio-Rad to fight the COVID pandemic by using Bio-Rad’s highly sensitive, rapid turnaround droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) technology. In very short order, Biodesix transitioned its labs and testing services to detect SARS COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

  • Biodesix managed on-site testing operations for student-athletes, students, and staff across the “Big 10” colleges, allowing both in-person academics and collegiate sports to continue with minimal disruption during the pandemic.

Scott Hutton was named CEO to lead commercial growth. Scott led the successful Biodesix business expansion and company survival throughout the global pandemic.

Hutton also led the company’s IPO. Biodesix went public on NASDAQ, in October 2020, under the ticker symbol BDSX.

2022–Onwards: A Biodesix Return to Lung Health and Lung Nodule Management

2022: IQLung Cancer Treatment Guidance was launched to inform treatment strategies for all stages of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The Biodesix IQLung test is ordered as one blood draw and includes three tests:

  • VeriStrat test, a proteomic immune classifier
  • GeneStrat ddPCR test, a genomic test to identify actionable tumor mutations in early-stage NSCLC
  • GeneStrat NGS test, a genomic test to identify actionable tumor mutations in advanced-stage NSCLC.

2024–2026: Under Scott Hutton and the Biodesix Leadership Team, Biodesix has been recognized and ranked both state-wide and nationally for its outstanding company culture. For 3 consecutive years, Biodesix has been recognized as a Top Workplace for Culture and Engagement. These awards and evaluations were based on rigorous, anonymous employee surveys that are then ranked against companies of similar size, across multiple industries:

  • Inc. Best Workplaces Honoree in 2024
  • The Denver Post Top Workplaces in 2025
  • USA Today Top Workplaces in 2026

2025:

  • named a Thermo Fisher Scientific Center of Excellence
  • business expansion into Primary Care for the Biodesix Nodify Lung tests.

2026: Future Oncology published the largest lung nodule biomarker clinical validation study, by Biodesix, that included 1,164 patients and nodule sizes of 4–30 mm, “Validation of a blood-based autoantibody test to assess lung cancer risk in 4–30 mm pulmonary nodules: a retrospective pooled analysis of four cohort studies”.

Trademark notes:
Droplet Digital and ddPCR are trademarks of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.
Nodify Lung, IQLung, VeriStrat, GeneStrat, GeneStrat NGS, and Diagnostic Cortex are trademarks of Biodesix, Inc.