CoreBiome Announces Leading Microbiome Researcher Rob Knight as Scientific Advisor

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CoreBiome, a microbiome discovery services provider and wholly-owned subsidiary of OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSUR), announced today that Rob Knight, Professor and Director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation at the University of California San Diego, has joined its scientific advisory board.

As an investigator on the National Institutes of Health Human Microbiome Project and a co-founder of the American Gut Project, Dr. Knight is one of the world’s leading microbiome researchers. Dr. Knight’s research tools have played a major role in the development of microbiome science. His research has been published in over 500 peer-reviewed research articles that collectively have been cited over 150,000 times.

“We are thrilled to have Rob Knight joining CoreBiome as a scientific advisor. Rob has pioneered many of the foundational tools that microbiome science is built upon,” says CoreBiome CEO Dan Knights. “Rob has been a key investigator on many breakthrough clinical discoveries, and has a great sense of where the current and future needs are for microbiome scientists.”

Dr. Knight’s unique position as an expert in both computational and molecular biology will allow him to advise CoreBiome on opportunities for innovation at the bench and in the cloud. Ongoing tool development at CoreBiome and its sister company DNA Genotek will help customers gain insight into the function activity and byproducts of the microbiome.

Dr. Knight said of his appointment, “I believe it’s extremely important to the whole microbiome field to give all investigators access to high-resolution microbiome data and data mining at a massive scale. I am very excited to be a part of ongoing efforts to make that happen.”

With the launch of BoosterShot™, CoreBiome has led the field in making high-resolution metagenomic DNA sequencing accessible to population-scale studies. In 2019, CoreBiome was acquired by OraSure Technologies, which also owns DNA Genotek, a leading provider of sampling and stabilization kits, bringing together an end-to-end solution for robust microbiome discovery – from sample collection to sequencing to custom data mining. CoreBiome also provides ultra-high-throughput deep shotgun metagenomics and strain discovery.

“Having Rob as an advisor will support CoreBiome’s mission, to accelerate discovery for the whole field by giving our customers access to big data and good data at the same time,” said CoreBiome Data Science Manager Tonya Ward. “It’s not just about generating a ton of data. The data have to be high quality, and you also have to know what to do with the data once you get it. We help customers do all of the above.”

About CoreBiome:
CoreBiome is a microbiome genomics company focused on accelerating microbiome discovery for customers in the pharmaceutical, agriculture, and research communities, to unleash the translational potential of the microbiome. The company’s proprietary BenchMark™, BoosterShot™, and Core Analysis™ platforms provide fast and information-rich characterizations of microbial diversity and function, paired with machine learning and expert analytics. CoreBiome is a wholly-owned subsidiary of OraSure Technologies, Inc., which also owns DNA Genotek, a leading provider of sampling and stabilization kits. For more information about CoreBiome, visit http://www.corebiome.com.

About OraSure Technologies:
OraSure Technologies is a leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of point-of-care diagnostic and collection devices and other technologies designed to detect or diagnose critical medical conditions. Its first-to-market, innovative products include rapid tests for the detection of antibodies to HIV and HCV on the OraQuick® platform, oral fluid sample collection, stabilization and preparation products for molecular diagnostic applications, and oral fluid laboratory tests for detecting various drugs of abuse. OraSure’s portfolio of products is sold globally to various clinical laboratories, hospitals, clinics, community-based organizations and other public health organizations, research and academic institutions, distributors, government agencies, physicians’ offices, commercial and industrial entities and consumers. The Company’s products enable healthcare providers to deliver critical information to patients, empowering them to make decisions to improve and protect their health.

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These and other factors that could affect our results are discussed more fully in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings, including our registration statements, Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the SEC. Although forward-looking statements help to provide information about future prospects, readers should keep in mind that forward-looking statements may not be reliable. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and OraSure Technologies undertakes no duty to update these statements.

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