Website: www.cizzlebio.com
Founding Year: 2024
Office Locations: San Antonio, Texas (HQ), with partnerships across the United States, the UK, and the Caribbean
In a world where cancer remains a leading cause of death and a significant health challenge worldwide, Cizzle Bio, Inc. is pioneering a future where early detection could mean the difference between life and loss. Founded in 2024 and headquartered in San Antonio, Cizzle Bio is bringing new hope to patients with cutting-edge, minimally invasive diagnostic tests, designed not just to detect cancer early, but to make that detection accessible and affordable for all.
Cizzle Bio’s mission to detect cancer when it is most treatable and survivable is deeply rooted in the vision of its Chairman and CEO, Bill Behnke. A seasoned healthcare leader, Bill’s personal and professional journey has shaped Cizzle Bio’s path forward as a biotech firm driven by both impact and innovation.
A Mission Born from Urgency
Cizzle Bio was founded to solve a problem that has plagued cancer care for years—diagnosis often comes too late for effective treatment. The company is focused on advancing innovative biomarker blood tests that are accurate and clinically practical. Its flagship product, the CIZ1B lung cancer test, is based on over two decades of research into the CIZ1 gene at the University of York, led by UK-based Cizzle Biotechnology. Cizzle Bio was established to bring this transformative test to patients in the United States.
The company was founded to address one of the most urgent and unmet needs in global healthcare—the early detection of cancer, when it is most treatable and survivable. Cizzle Bio is focused on advancing innovative biomarker blood tests that are accurate, minimally invasive, and clinically practical.
The test detects a unique protein variant in the blood, called CIZ1B, that is highly associated with early-stage lung cancer. It can identify early disease using a simple blood draw, helping clinicians detect cancer at Stage 1, before it spreads to other parts of the body, and when five-year survival rates are significantly higher. “Cizzle Bio holds exclusive licensing rights to the proprietary test, including the IP (Intellectual Property), in North America and the Caribbean, and our test has been granted six international patents, with several other patents pending,” says Bill.
Building on this approach, Cizzle Bio has licensed and is preparing to launch DEX-G2, a highly accurate blood test for early detection of gastric cancer, also known as stomach cancer, developed from decades of research at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. DEX-G2 combines cell-free and exosomal miRNA biomarkers and demonstrated 95% sensitivity for early-stage disease in a multicenter clinical trial.
We had the pleasure of interacting with Bill Behnke to gain his insights on the evolving landscape of early cancer detection, the company’s breakthrough innovations, and the guiding principles behind its ascent in the biotech industry. Below is an excerpt from our conversation.
How does your company contribute to the competitive global platform at large?
We are contributing to the global healthcare landscape by commercializing diagnostic tools that can save lives through earlier detection. Our lung cancer test is being further validated at top-tier institutions like Moffitt Cancer Center and UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson, and we have launched our first international partnership with Doctors Hospital in the Cayman Islands. A recent study by a noted healthcare economist, accepted as an abstract at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, showed that using our test to screen patients in the at-risk Medicare population could save the Medicare program $518 million annually.
As mentioned earlier, we are also advancing our gastric cancer test, DEX-G2, licensed from the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, which detects cancer with 95% sensitivity using miRNA biomarkers. These innovations reflect our commitment to rigorous science and global impact.
How tough was it to start? How did you manage to overcome them and move forward?
Launching our business was made efficient by licensing our tests from world-class researchers who delivered scientifically sound products ready for commercialization. Even so, bringing a diagnostic innovation to market has inherent challenges, such as laboratory validation requirements and ensuring physician access. What is integral to our success is our experienced leadership team—including veterans from Genentech, Eli Lilly, Moffitt Cancer Center, and Cogent Healthcare—as well as close collaboration with leading scientists. We are built on two pillars of influence: lifesaving diagnostics and a team dedicated to their impact. We have also stayed focused on one simple but powerful mission—saving lives through earlier detection.
In addition to contributing towards economic growth, do you think companies should also focus on social responsibilities?
Absolutely. At Cizzle Bio, social responsibility is central to our mission. We are working to democratize access to early cancer detection, ensuring that lifesaving technologies are not limited to those in urban centers or academic medical institutions. Barriers to care, including geographic access, cost, and limited awareness, lead to delayed diagnoses and worse outcomes for cancer patients. By developing accurate, minimally invasive, and affordable biomarker blood tests, we aim to bridge those disparities and make early detection a routine part of care, regardless of zip code, income, or insurance status. We believe companies should play an active role in addressing health equity, and our work is rooted in the idea that early detection should be available to everyone.
How important is social media in building an influential business today?
Social media is critical for education, awareness, and trust-building. We use it to share science-backed information with patients, providers, and investors and to amplify voices from the medical community who believe in our mission.
Without employee success, company-wide success will be tough to obtain. How do you perceive this statement?
Employee success is foundational to a company’s success. Our team members are not only skilled professionals but also ambassadors for our mission. We support them through flexible work environments, professional development opportunities, and a shared sense of purpose.
What role do innovation and technology play in scaling up a business?
They are the engine of growth for a business. Our innovations in biomarker science and laboratory technology are allowing us to bridge the gap between academic centers and routine primary care. For example, our partnership with Tasso, a leader in at-home blood collection, will let patients access our CIZ1B test without leaving their homes.
A Vision Beyond the Lab
While innovation is the engine of Cizzle Bio, impact is its compass. The company’s roadmap extends far beyond the two cancer types it currently addresses. Future plans include a broader suite of cancer-specific diagnostics, more global partnerships, and expanded reimbursement models to eliminate financial barriers.
“We want to change how the world thinks about cancer detection, not as a luxury reserved for those near elite hospitals, but as a standard, simple part of primary care,” Bill asserts.
To make that vision real, Cizzle Bio is working with laboratory networks holding hundreds of payer contracts, expanding its policy advocacy efforts, and aiming to make early detection tests a scalable and effective solution across healthcare systems.
Bill Behnke: Shaping the Future of Cancer Detection
With over 30 years in healthcare innovation, Bill Behnke is no stranger to systems change. From founding and scaling physician-led organizations to advancing oncology research, his track record spans startups, policy, and clinical strategy. But his commitment to early detection is shaped by his own family’s journey—his daughter, Ella, was diagnosed with lymphoma at just three years old. That experience, he says, “ignited a lifelong mission to make sure other families have better options, sooner.”
Bill has served as a board member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and currently sits on the ASCO Foundation’s Conquer Cancer® Board. At Cizzle Bio, he brings together visionary leadership, professional expertise, and personal resolve to change the future of cancer care.
