What Double Helix LLC does

Double Helix LLC is a privately held, U.S.-based professional services firm that provides expert advisory, recruiting, staffing, privacy and security, technology consulting, software quality assurance, and market research services to personalized medicine, precision medicine, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, diagnostic laboratory, and healthcare SaaS clients. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Jose, California, the firm is led by co-founders Molly Ryan (CEO) and Ken Stineman (CTO), whose combined 50+ years of executive search and software engineering experience trace back to a bioinformatics and genomics executive search practice established in 1997. The company serves enterprise clients across California, the broader U.S., and internationally, with client engagements previously completed for named life-sciences leaders including Amgen, Merck (Rosetta Inpharmatics), Affymetrix, Genomic Health, and Illumina.

The underlying technology stack is delivered through a mix of onshore and offshore resources rather than a proprietary platform. Service delivery is supported by a dedicated offshore software QA team in Chandigarh, India, with tooling across HP QTP, Telerik Test Studio, Sahi Pro, and Selenium, and by a remote bioinformatics team embedded at the COSBI Microsoft Research – University of Trento Centre for Computational and Systems Biology in Italy. Privacy and security advisory spans HIPAA, HITECH, ISO 27000, FISMA, GDPR, HITRUST, and PCI requirements, while technology consulting covers AWS/Azure/Google Cloud, high-performance computing, bioinformatic pipelines, and laboratory/medical-device software. A 2023 strategic partnership with MISA Solutions extends digital-transformation reach into pharma R&D and clinical-laboratory LIMS/ELN, sample management, and data strategy.

The business model is professional services billing across multiple structures: retained search fees pegged to a percentage of candidate compensation invoiced on milestones; on-site recruiters billed hourly; hybrid recruiting subscriptions at negotiated monthly rates; expert advisors on hourly, daily, monthly retainer, or project-based terms; and flexible staffing including Employer-of-Record and contract-to-hire arrangements. Go-to-market is sales-led via direct consulting engagements targeting growing personalized-medicine and precision-medicine companies, supplemented by a content-marketing blog covering regulatory, security, and technology topics. The firm has no disclosed funding rounds, no parent company, no M&A activity, and no public listing; ownership and control rest entirely with the founding principals.

Name

Double Helix LLC

Legal name

Double Helix LLC

Website

https://double-helix.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Double Helix LLC is a privately held professional services firm providing expert advisory, recruiting, staffing, privacy/security, technology consulting, and software QA services to personalized medicine, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and diagnostic laboratory clients, supported by offshore delivery in India and Italy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Life Sciences Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Regulatory Operations & Publishing (eCTD, RIM, Submission Management) (HLAGAKAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Clinical Trial Informatics (EDC/CTMS/eCOA/eTMF) (HLAGAJAM)

Keywords

• Life science consulting
• Executive search services
• Biotechnology recruiting
• Regulatory compliance advisory
• Clinical staffing solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

San Jose

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Expert Advisory Services: Consulting and advisory services providing experts to guide personalized medicine, pharmaceutical, or biotechnology organizations through clinical trial design and regulatory, commercial, and operations challenges. Revenue generated through hourly consulting, daily rates, monthly retainers, or project-based engagements.
2. Recruiting and Executive Search: Retained search and specialized recruiting services for biotechnology, life-science, and personalized medicine professionals. Fees based on percentage of candidate compensation, invoiced on a milestone basis. Also includes on-site recruiters at hourly rates and hybrid recruiting at negotiated monthly rates.
3. Flexible Staffing: Temporary staffing services providing on-site, project-based hourly resources, contract-to-hire, part-time and fractional expert advisors. Includes workforce management and Employer of Record (EOR) services. Off-shore software QA, engineering, and bioinformatics resources also provided.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Double Helix LLC provides expert advisory, recruiting and executive search, flexible staffing, privacy and security, technology consulting, software quality assurance, and market research services to personalized medicine, precision medicine, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and life-science companies. The firm delivers fractional leadership and specialized consultants to address clinical trial design, regulatory (CLIA, CAP, FDA), reimbursement, technology, and compliance needs across the development lifecycle.

Product overview

Double Helix LLC is a consulting and advisory services firm, not a product company. The company provides expert advisory services in the life sciences, biotechnology, personalized medicine, and digital health sectors. Services include expert advisors for technical, scientific, marketing, informatics, reimbursement, quality, and compliance needs; recruiting and executive search for biotechnology and life-science professionals; flexible and temporary staffing; privacy and security advisory (HIPAA, GDPR, FISMA compliance); technology strategy and software consulting; software quality assurance and testing services; and market research for M&A, competitive intelligence, and vendor selection.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Expert Advisors Fractional and project-based expert advisory services providing senior guidance to personalized medicine, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology organizations across clinical trial design, regulatory (CLIA, CAP, FDA), commercial, and operational challenges from research through commercialization.
• Recruiting and Executive Search Boutique full-service retained recruiting and executive search for senior-level technology, science, business, clinical, and regulatory leaders in biotechnology, life-science, and personalized medicine companies. Offered as retained search, on-site recruiter, and hybrid on-site/remote recruiter models.
• Flexible Staffing Temporary staffing services providing on-site, project-based, contract-to-hire, part-time, and fractional expert advisors. Includes workforce management, Employer of Record (EOR) services, and offshore QA, engineering, and bioinformatics resources.
• Privacy and Security Privacy and security advisory including formal risk analysis, vulnerability scanning, policy development, and practical implementation for HIPAA, federal, state, and international data privacy regulations. Also covers vendor assessment and penetration testing.
• Technology Consulting Road-mapping, product selection, and software implementation consulting addressing technical challenges for laboratory, medical device, and life-science companies, including cloud (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), hybrid cloud, electronic health records, and bioinformatic pipelines.
• Software Quality Assurance Software quality assurance and test automation services using HP QTP, Telerik Test Studio, Sahi Pro, and Selenium frameworks, with risk-based validation strategies for custom and off-the-shelf software across desktop, web, and mobile platforms.
• Market Research Custom technology research generating actionable analysis reports and executive summaries for M&A, competitive intelligence landscapes, and vendor selection projects in life sciences.

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• MISA Solutions, LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 April 2023Strategic partnership announced April 17, 2023 bringing together deep skills in digital transformation in life sciences and clinical laboratories. The partnership combines MISA's expertise in pharma R&D and manufacturing laboratories, data management, LIMS/ELN, and sample management with Double-Helix's expertise in omics technologies for personalized and precision medicine. Together they provide comprehensive digital transformation services including data strategy, technology planning, software engineering, cloud technology solutions, and security and privacy.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Health Advances: Boutique management consulting firm exclusively focused on healthcare and life sciences strategy. Closely comparable in boutique scale and dedicated life-sciences positioning to Double-Helix's expert advisory business.
• Triangle Insights Group: Boutique strategy consulting firm serving pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technology clients. Comparable boutique life-sciences advisory with a similar mix of commercial strategy, clinical, and operational engagements.
• Lumanity: Healthcare and life sciences advisory firm combining strategic consulting with evidence and analytics services. Comparable for life-sciences strategy advisory and the cross-functional advisory model Double-Helix employs.
• Defined Health: Specialty consulting firm focused on pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technology clients. Comparable as a similarly sized life-sciences advisory firm serving overlapping early-stage and growth-stage biotech customers.

Broad incumbents

• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search firm with a substantial healthcare and life-sciences practice. Comparable to Double-Helix's retained executive search service line at much larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• ZS Associates: Large global professional services firm with a dedicated life-sciences practice serving pharma, biotech, and medtech. Overlapping client base with Double-Helix but at vastly larger scale and broader capability scope.
• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with a substantial life-sciences executive search and advisory practice. Comparable to Double-Helix's recruiting and fractional leadership services at a much broader scale.
• Spencer Stuart: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm with a dedicated healthcare and life-sciences practice. Directly competes with Double-Helix's retained biotech executive search offering at a global scale.
• Russell Reynolds Associates: Global executive search firm with a healthcare and life-sciences practice. Comparable to Double-Helix's retained biotech and personalized-medicine executive search work at larger scale.
• Charles River Associates: Global consulting firm with a significant life-sciences practice serving pharma and biotech clients on strategic, pricing, and commercial questions. Comparable for life-sciences strategic advisory at a much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/2xhelix

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Double Helix LLC