Sen. Chris Murphy Names Guilford's Quantum-Si Innovator of the Month

HARTFORD–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) announced that Quantum-Si, based in Guilford, was named October’s “Innovator of the Month.” Quantum-Si is a life sciences company that has developed a next-generation, single molecule protein sequencing technology powered by a first-of-its-kind semiconductor chip in order to advance drug discovery and diagnostics beyond what has been possible with DNA sequencing.

“Quantum-Si’s exciting application of semiconductor chip technology to identify protein structures puts it at the cutting edge of scientific research, disease diagnosis, and therapeutic discovery. Innovative companies like this are part of the reason why jumpstarting our domestic semiconductor industry with the CHIPs and Science Act is so important. I look forward to Quantum-Si’s continued growth in Connecticut,” said Murphy.

“DNA sequencing enabled great advances in the biomedical community’s understanding of the role of genes in human disease, but proteins actually carry out most functions in our bodies. New methods for precise measurement of proteins are key to the next era of research into diseases and how to treat them. Our next-generation protein sequencing technology will be an indispensable tool in accelerating life science research by allowing the parallel cataloging of many proteins using a small, accessible benchtop instrument for the deepest insights into the human body,” said Brian Reed, Head of Research at Quantum-Si.

Headquartered in Connecticut, Quantum-Si is part of the startup accelerator 4 Catalyzer, dedicated to maximizing societal impact through transformative medical innovation. Founded by world-renowned scientist and entrepreneur Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, Quantum-Si recently became the first company demonstrating protein sequencing technology to be published by a major peer-reviewed journal with its paper debut in Science, the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Murphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are the building blocks for a strong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced two bipartisan pieces of legislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies—the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act. Startup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year.