Dr. Marasco brings growth-stage business development and operational experience to the company through his 28 year career of commercializing chemical and biochemical technologies. Prior to joining Diffinity, he served since 2007 as CEO and board member of Chiral Quest Corp., a US headquartered fine chemical and active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing firm. Dr. Marasco has served in several other leadership roles in both early stage and publicly traded firms including Dow Chemical, Beckman, and Kaneka, where he built a $70 M business in custom product collaborations with major pharmaceutical firms. He earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from University of Virginia, and was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in Biochemistry at the Walter Reed Medical Center. Dr. Marasco's international and technical business experience will also aid Diffinity in exploring additional markets and applications for its proprietary molecular separations technologies.
The Company also announces that Jeffrey L. Helfer will be stepping down from his role as CEO and member of the Board of Directors. He will continue employment with the Company in a new product and business development role and as an Executive Advisor through the transition of leadership. The Diffinity Genomics Board of Directors has appointed Dr. Marasco to the board to replace the vacancy. These changes are all part of the Diffinity’s succession plan to help ensure that the Company has access to the expertise necessary to lead the Company through its present growth stage.
Mr. Helfer joined Diffinity Genomics in 2008 and was instrumental in developing and commercializing the company’s RapidTip® for PCR purification products. “We are deeply appreciative of Jeff’s contributions over the past five years, building our company, hiring a highly competent development, manufacturing and sales team, and establishing our global business partnerships,” stated Dr. Lewis Rothberg, Diffinity Genomics’ Chief Science Officer and co-founder.
About Diffinity Genomics, Inc.
Diffinity Genomics Inc., (www.diffinitygenomics.com) is a Rochester, NY-based biotechnology company that is developing products for rapid and simple nucleic acid purification and analysis based on its proprietary Diffinity® Technology, starting with the Diffinity RapidTip® for PCR purification. Diffinity Technology is based upon the ability to configure surfaces to preferentially adsorb different types of nucleic acids.
Contact:
Robin Hodownes
VP, Sales & Marketing
Diffinity Genomics, Inc.
585-272-8141
rhodownes@diffinitygenomics.com
