MADISON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EraGen Biosciences Inc. today announced a major expansion of its sales, marketing, customer service and technical support organizations. The expanded teams include seasoned professionals with substantial experience in the rapidly growing molecular diagnostics market.
The company also announced that Maria L. Foster, its vice president of commercial operations, has assumed responsibility for the company’s sales organization. She had been responsible for marketing, customer service and technical support.
When she joined the company in 2008, Ms. Foster brought more than 25 years of sales, marketing and operations experience to EraGen, including senior-level leadership positions at two leading U.S. diagnostics companies. Ms. Foster was regional vice president of sales at Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics. She was subsequently named worldwide director of ValuMetrix Services at Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics.
Ms. Foster also held successively more responsible sales management positions at Ciba Corning Diagnostics Corp. and its successor, Chiron Diagnostics Corp. She was the company’s vice president of sales, developing and managing its 180-person U.S. sales organization. Ms. Foster drove exceptional sales performance while leading the organization through significant change after Ciba Corning Diagnostics’ acquisition by Chiron.
Prior to joining EraGen, Ms. Foster was president and chief executive of White Bridge Associates, the New Jersey-based consulting firm she founded.
“Maria’s depth of experience makes her ideally suited to lead all of EraGen’s customer related functions, as we continue to focus on growing our clinical customer base and recurring revenue,” said Irene Hrusovsky, M.D., EraGen’s president and chief executive. “Understanding our customers is at the heart of what makes EraGen different and is essential to creating customer and shareholder value. Maria’s experience, both at EraGen and elsewhere, has given her a thorough understanding of clinical and hospital laboratory customer needs.”
“The expansion we undertook during the past several months was part of an initiative to better support the company’s growing molecular diagnostic product menu and clinical laboratory customer base,” Ms. Foster said. “This expansion represents EraGen’s ongoing commitment to increasing our market presence and continuing to provide the highest quality customer service and support.”
Ms. Foster earned a bachelor’s of business administration degree in marketing and accounting from St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind. She earned a master’s of business administration degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
About EraGen Biosciences
EraGen Biosciences develops, manufactures and markets innovative molecular diagnostic products that are driving a new era in clinical diagnostics and research. The company’s in-market and pipeline products, based on its novel, patented MultiCode® platform chemistry, are the next generation of DNA- and RNA-based testing for the early detection of infectious diseases and genetic conditions. EraGen’s expanding menu of high-quality, easy-to-use products position the company for leadership in molecular diagnostics. For more information, visit the EraGen website at www.eragen.com.
