James Karis Teams With Tegal's Thomas Mika as Co-CEO of Tegal Corporation
Tegal announced earlier today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire CollabRx, Inc., a privately held technology company in the rapidly growing market of interpretive content and data analytics for genomics-based medicine. The combined, publicly traded company intends to operate under the CollabRx name and will locate its headquarters in San Francisco, CA. Upon completion of the pending transaction, Mr. Karis also will be appointed to Tegal’s Board of Directors.
Mr. Karis, who became CollabRx CEO in 2011, served for nine years as President and CEO of Entelos, Inc., a U.S.-based life sciences technology company. He previously was President and Chief Operating Officer of PAREXEL International Corporation, Chief Operating Officer of Pharmaco International, and Vice President of International Operations of Baxter International. Mr. Karis also co-founded KMR Group, a leading pharmaceutical research-and-development benchmarking consulting firm. An experienced Director of public and private companies, Mr. Karis has a B.S. Degree in Management and Economics from Purdue University and a Masters in Applied Economics from The American University.
“I am extremely pleased to be working with Thomas Mika to deliver an unrivaled knowledgebase that expresses the relationship between tumor genetic profiles, medical records and prospective therapies,” said Mr. Karis. “We are committed to bringing our valuable tools to physicians and patients who are working together to determine the best approach to treatment.”
“James has guided CollabRx to the vanguard of information and analytics for genomics-based medicine,” said Mr. Mika. “Our entire team is energized about our company’s leadership prospects in this critically important sector.”
Tegal will continue to operate under its current name and ticker symbol for the time being, but plans to seek stockholder approval at its upcoming annual meeting in September 2012 for an amendment to its Certificate of Incorporation, changing its corporate name to CollabRx, Inc.
About Tegal
Since its founding in 1972, Tegal Corporation has been dedicated to the development and application of emerging technologies. For 40 years, Tegal’s process and equipment know-how has been incorporated in devices fabricated by some of the world’s leading semiconductor and MEMS companies, including Tegal’s one-time parent, Motorola. Now entering its fifth decade, Tegal has committed its future to emerging technologies in medical devices and health care. Please visit us on the web at www.tegal.com.
About CollabRx
CollabRx is a recognized leader in “cloud-based” expert systems to inform health care decision-making. CollabRx uses information technology to aggregate and contextualize the world's knowledge on genomics-based medicine with specific insights from the nation's top cancer experts starting with the area of greatest need: advanced cancers in patients who have effectively exhausted the standard of care.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that may include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Tegal, CollabRx and their respective management. Forward looking statements include statements about the benefits and advantages of the acquisition for Tegal and CollabRx. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of important factors, including but not limited to the risk that the acquisition will not close as the transaction is subject to certain closing conditions. In addition, if and when the transaction is closed, there will be risks and uncertainties related to Tegal’s ability to integrate CollabRx successfully, the risk that the anticipated benefits from the acquisition may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; and competition and its effect on the combined company’s performance. Additional factors that may affect future results are contained in the SEC filings for Tegal, including but not limited to Tegal’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2012. Tegal and CollabRx each disclaim any obligation to update and revise statements contained in this release based on new information or otherwise.
Contact:
Tegal Corporation
Thomas Mika, 707-763-5600 ext. 5630
President & CEO
tmika@tegal.com
or
CollabRx, Inc.
James M. Karis, 650-352-4790
CEO
jkaris@collabrx.com
or
Robert Ferri Partners, LLC
Robert Ferri, 415-575-1589 (direct)
robert.ferri@robertferri.com