Back to the future as Diston takes CEO role in Evonetix rebuild

Andrew Diston, former Head of Medical Technology at Cambridge Consultants, has taken the reins as experienced investors and entrepreneurs praise the technology as genuinely world-beating.

It is a fitting return to the front line of this particular operation for Diston as Evonetix spun out of Cambridge Consultants. Major investors in the business head-hunted him to get involved.

Evonetix raised $20 million only last year but sources close to the business say it overstretched, trying to grow too fast, too soon – and had to make economies as a matter of priority to ensure it remained in position to exploit its proposition. In a nutshell, Evonetix is spearheading a radical new approach to gene synthesis to improve access to high-quality, gene-length DNA.

The company believes that having Diston at the helm will ensure it can now milk the gain having taken the temporary pain.

It was only last September that Evonetix scooped two categories of the Business Weekly Awards – based on progress in the previous 12 months (2022). One of those accolades was based on its achievement of raising good money in a troubled macro-market. The other was for the disruptive nature of its technology, which clearly remains outstanding.

None of which will be of any consolation to the staff – numbers unspecified – who have lost their jobs since the start of the year; a difficult set of decisions as CTO and founder Matt Hayes has acknowledged.

Hayes told Business Weekly: “At the start of this year, Evonetix went through a process of reorganisation in response to the needs of its technology development and to ensure its runway through current volatility in the investment environment.

“Evonetix closed an investment round of over $20m in early 2023 and remains well supported into 2025, but is taking this action to manage its resources prudently in the short to medium term.

“This is, of course, a difficult and unsettling time for all involved and we have been very conscious of the wellbeing of those who have left the company.

“We were fortunate to be able to offer an internally delivered outplacement programme, specifically tailored to our multi-disciplinary teams, which had a high take up rate, enabling a smoother transition for our employees who without exception have made immense contributions to our progress through their professionalism and dedication.

“Our core teams remain focused on the development of our groundbreaking technology for semiconductor-based gene assembly, and we look forward to sharing more of this as we continue to build on our progress.”

Diston is well versed in helping to avert healthcare problems, having worked as a volunteer through the COVID pandemic. He doesn’t see an obviously sick patient or casualty in waiting in Evonetix.

Diston said: “We are focusing on realising the full value of the Evonetix technology. We have a cash runway well into 2025 and see no reason to go cap in hand back to the markets in the near future.

“We are very clear on what we are aiming to achieve and how the technology fills a clear gap in the market. We believe Evonetix can supply the market with what it needs in this space.

“Next year investors may feel inclined to talk to us about fresh funding or we may be able to rely on further commercial successes. For now we will work to maximise the efforts of the core team here, while expressing regret at having to let go so many good people who worked so hard to take Evonetix to the point it had reached.”