How Rubix LS is Reengineering Clinical Trials for Real-World Impact

When clinical trials fail to reflect the diversity of real-world populations, healthcare innovation suffers. Therapies that work well in controlled studies may fall short when applied broadly, especially for underserved communities that rarely make it into the research. While people of color represent nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population, they often account for just 2 to 16 percent of trial participants.

Rubix Life Sciences (Rubix LS), founded by biomolecular engineer Reginald Swift, PhD, is determined to change that. Founded nine years ago, the company designs clinical trials and creates research and technology solutions designed to close equity gaps and generate representative patient data, and help stakeholders, from healthcare startups to government agencies, make better decisions rooted in equity and access.

From inclusive trial design to public health data modeling, Rubix LS has reimagined what a contract research organization (CRO) can be. It focused on breaking access barriers, helping improve representation in studies and ensuring communities that are often left out are built into the foundation of its work. The disparity is especially stark for Blacks, Latinos, LGBT+ individuals, those with limited English proficiency, people who live in rural areas, those with disabilities, and low-income populations

Swift was a sponsor of the Power of X Summit for women's health, held at Cure in March 2025. Cure spoke with him about Rubix LS and its goals, lessons for entrepreneurs, and how to create solutions that serve communities long overlooked in medical research.

This interview was condensed for length and clarity.

Cure: Can you tell us about the mission of Rubix LS?

Swift: We center our efforts on underserved individuals, who have been disregarded for most of medical history. As a traditional CRO, we design and execute clinical trials built for scale and equity. We have facilities to run phase 1 and 2 studies, and we run phase 3 and 4 studies through our network.

We also have labs to conduct preclinical work. Although we can't necessarily translate animals to humans, especially from diverse backgrounds, we use computational approaches to simulate those effects, based on the data that we do have.

Second, we design clinical research programs from soup to nuts. From early-stage discovery all the way to healthcare delivery, we look at information and data so we can prepare hospitals, insurance companies and all of the groups involved in a patient's care to ensure that patient is cared for.

We design research that addresses healthcare disparities and systemic gaps, with a focus on delivering inclusive, real-world solutions that serve underrepresented communities and drive equity in clinical outcomes.

Third, we work with the government to help meet public health needs. Working with more than 20 federal agencies, we architect solutions for public health challenges, from infectious disease outbreaks to biodefense strategies.

Cure: That's a broad mission!

Swift: It is. I first began building Rubix LS by looking at the gaps that exist. And then the company evolved over time. I didn't set out to necessarily be a CRO or a resource company, but to address a specific need. We evolved with the times to target underserved patients who need help and support.

Cure: Do you help organizations recruit underserved patients for clinical trials?

Swift: We don't do recruitment ourselves, but we can help companies understand how to do it. We help catalyze or crystallize those mechanisms for them. We do recruit patients for our own clinical trials and for the government. We know those mechanisms have worked because we now have more than 18 million patient data sets.

Cure: You have an educational background in engineering. How did you make the leap to the healthcare field?

Swift: I studied mechanical engineering at Florida International University, gearing toward the aerospace field. I was inspired by my father, who was a mechanic for airplanes used in the Vietnam War. When he passed away from melanoma, I was in Boston pursuing my graduate degree, and I wanted to change gears a little bit. I was transitioning out of aerospace [Swift holds a PhD in biomolecular engineering from Harvard Medical School], and I saw that biotech was really big in Boston.

I wanted to apply the same principles of engineering to create methods, processes, or products to help support the next group of fathers who may need help and support. So, I looked into biotech pharma and I started getting work in the industry, picking up everything that I could from R&D to early discovery, clinical research, device development and drug development to regulatory, health affairs, medical affairs — the whole gamut.

Cure: What's next for Rubix LS?

Swift: We've entered into a strategic collaboration with TheraSyn Bio on a joint venture for Project Panacea, an initiative to develop a topical breast cancer therapy. This collaboration combines our expertise in breast cancer data and patient insights with TheraSyn Bio's bioengineering platform. The goal is to assess a precision-based topical treatment to improve therapeutic efficacy while reducing systemic toxicity. We hope to start a phase 1 clinical trial by 2026.

Cure: Do you have any advice for entrepreneurs looking to launch a biotech startup?

Swift: If you're thinking only of financial gain, you're not going to do well. You're not going to make it. If your mission isn't tied to something attached to the heart, then don't start it.

There are going to be days, weeks and months that it isn't going to go well. But if you can navigate in tough waters, especially when you're tied to a mission so deep and ingrained in you, you'll make it.

Everything has to be rooted in wherever your true north is. Wherever your true north is, it's going to carry you all the way through.