COLUMBIA, Md., Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Cylex(R), Inc., the developer of the ImmuKnow(R) cell function assay, today announced that Paul R. Sohmer, MD has been appointed to its Board of Directors and has agreed to serve as acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company.
Dr. Sohmer has served as CEO of both public and privately held growth companies focused on medical devices, biotechnology, and health care services. Most recently he served as Chairman, President and CEO of TriPath Imaging, Inc., which was sold to Becton Dickinson and Associates (BD) in December of 2006. Previously he served as President and CEO of Neuromedical Systems, Inc., Genetrix, Inc., and the Pathology Institute, Inc. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of RadPharm, Inc. Dr. Sohmer was named North Carolina Life Sciences Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005.
“Dr. Sohmer is an entrepreneurial leader with a proven track record of success,” said Carol Winslow, Founder and Principal of Channel Medical Partners and a member of the Cylex Board of Directors. “His experience in building successful research and development and commercial infrastructures will be invaluable to Cylex.”
In a related announcement this morning, Judy Britz, PhD, Cylex’s Chairman and CEO for the past 8 years, will be leaving the Company to pursue personal interests. The Company plans on initiating a formal search to identify her permanent successor.
Dr. Britz joined Cylex, Inc. in May 1999 and during her tenure as CEO successfully raised over $33 million in funding for the Company. Under her leadership, Cylex has received FDA clearance for a blood test for the measurement of immune function, called ImmuKnow. This assay is used to detect cell-mediated immunity in immunosuppressed patients.
Ms. Winslow concluded, “We are grateful to Judy for the dedication, hard work, and passion for the technology that she has demonstrated during her tenure with Cylex. We look forward to her continuing to provide her valued perspective to the Company.”
About Cylex, Inc.
Cylex(R) is a global life science company that develops and manufactures patented in vitro diagnostic products for the assessment of immunity. Cylex markets ImmuKnow(R) -- which is cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the detection of cell-mediated immunity in an immunosuppressed population. The Company’s patented technology provides an innovative platform allowing clinical researchers to simply and reproducibly measure immune cell function for the development of new diagnostics, biomarkers and companion assays.
CONTACT: Dan Budwick of BMC Communications Group, LLC for Cylex, Inc.,
+1-212-477-9007 x14
