Innovation on the World Stage

BGS Old Boy Dr Sean Parsons ’97 was working in the Emergency Department at Caboolture Hospital during the height of the Swine Flu epidemic when a young man came in wondering if he had the virus.

Dr Parsons, who was trained at The University of Queensland, took the man’s sample to the laboratory to confirm that he had, in fact, tested positive.

Following the usual procedure, Dr Parsons wrote a script for antiviral medication, explained the infectious nature of the disease, and sent the patient on his way.

“When he left, I realised that he had what he needed to recover as swiftly as possible and reduce the spread within his community,” Dr Parsons later recalled. “But goodness knows how many people he gave it to while waiting there in Emergency.”

With that realisation, in 2010 Dr Parsons established Ellume, a digital diagnostics company, and set about developing a home test so that patients could detect influenza without contributing to its spread.

When COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation in March 2020, Ellume was well placed to rapidly develop and begin manufacturing high-quality digital diagnostic tests to be used in the community.

“I was certain there would be another pandemic, although I thought it would be flu rather than COVID,” Dr Parsons said. “Fortunately, our technology can be adapted quickly, and we were the first company to have an over-the-counter COVID test approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”

Ellume’s COVID-19 home testing kit is simple but effective, combining a nasal swab and a digital analyser which connects via Bluetooth to a smartphone app. Users are delivered results within 15 minutes and provided connectivity to telemedicine.

“As we all now know, to manage a pandemic like COVID-19 you have to make an early diagnosis. The earlier you can do that the better,” Dr Parsons said.

Between December 2020 and February 2021, Ellume’s COVID test was approved by the FDA and the company secured a US$230 million contract with the US Department of Defense to ramp up production and distribution of the tests.

A little over 12 months later, Ellume opened a state-of-theart diagnostic manufacturing facility in Frederick, a city around 80km northwest of Washington DC. It also partnered with CVS pharmacies to distribute tests in over 7000 stores across the US.

The whirlwind two years has seen Dr Parsons transition from clinician to CEO, build two manufacturing facilities in the US and Australia, hire dozens of new staff members, and transform a research and development business to a manufacturing business.

As Ellume continues its expansion into North American markets and develops new products to detect influenza and COVID-19, Dr Parsons is ambitious for the company to lead the world in creating access to affordable and effective healthcare by connecting digital diagnostics to clinical care.

“I’m a very product-focused business leader and the clinical benefit of our products is at the forefront of our company. This means that I’m still thinking about patients and healthcare, albeit in a different way to being a doctor,” he said.

“The business leadership has come over time and by drawing on the experience of other terrific business leaders in and around Ellume. The learning curve has been steep, but it’s been an enjoyable part of the Ellume growth story.”

Still based in Brisbane, Dr Parsons said he has “many great memories” of his years at BGS, from the camps at Moogerah to the good times he shared with classmates on the sporting field and during cocurricular activities.

Without a doubt, BGS helped me prepare for university and beyond. That groundwork came partly from what I learned in the classroom, partly from what I learned in sports and activities outside the classroom, and partly from the culture of striving to achieve one’s best in all aspects of life.

“Once the business grew significantly in the US, I found myself on a lot of early calls and working quite strange hours. My years of rowing at BGS have prepared me for very early starts!”

More than a decade on from Dr Parsons’ lightbulb moment at Caboolture Hospital, his approach to building and managing Ellume personifies Brisbane Grammar School’s new tagline, In Pursuit of Excellence.

“The goals we set for ourselves are perhaps the most important markers in our lives. It is against those goals that we labour, strive, and ultimately measure ourselves and our accomplishments,” he said.

“These are necessarily different for everyone but are no more or less worthy than each other. The goals of the astronaut are no more or less worthy than those of the Wallabies captain, the neurosurgeon, the professor, the CEO, or the stay-at-home father.

“They should have the common theme of pursuing excellence and for that reason I think the tagline is a terrific one for BGS.”