Great Basin Scientific, Inc. Appoints Jeffrey Rona As Chief Financial Officer

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Great Basin Scientific, Inc., (NASDAQ: GBSN), a commercial-stage molecular diagnostics company, today announced that, as previously reported, Jeffrey Rona has been appointed as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In this newly-created position, he will report to Great Basin’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Ryan Ashton. His appointment was approved by Great Basin’s Board of Directors, effective on October 8 in conjunction with the Company’s initial public offering. As CFO, Mr. Rona will be responsible for the Company’s global financial operations and strategy.

Mr. Rona is a seasoned executive in the healthcare and biotech industry with over 20 years of experience in originating, structuring and executing corporate transactions and financings. Most recently, he has served as a financial consultant to Great Basin since 2012 in his role as the managing director of Rona Capital, LLC, a life sciences-focused transactional advisory consultancy, founded in 2011. From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Rona was the Chief Business Officer of GlobeImmune, a private biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for cancer and infectious diseases. Prior to joining GlobeImmune, Mr. Rona was Vice President of Corporate Development for Corgentech, Inc., following the merger between Corgentech and AlgoRx Pharmaceuticals in 2005. At AlgoRx, he was CFO and responsible for the execution of the merger with Corgentech. Mr. Rona was in the investment banking department at UBS Warburg from 2000 to 2002. Prior to this, he was Director of Finance and Corporate Development at Antigenics Inc., now Agenus, taking the company public in 2000. Mr. Rona began his career in 1990 with Coopers and Lybrand and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Coopers & Lybrand Securities, where he held positions with increasing responsibility. Mr. Rona received a B.S. in Accounting from Case Western Reserve University in 1990.

“We are very pleased to have Jeff Rona join our executive team,” said Mr. Ashton. “Jeff’s extensive experience in leading financingsas both an investment banker and senior financial officer at high-growth life sciences companieswill be vital to helping Great Basin achieve its aggressive growth strategy for 2015 and beyond. We look forward to Jeff using his expertise to strengthen our financial organization and in demonstrating and communicating our value proposition to investors.”

About Great Basin
Great Basin is a molecular diagnostics company that commercializes breakthrough chip-based technologies. The Company is dedicated to the development of simple, yet powerful, sample-to-result technology and products that provide fast, multiple-pathogen diagnoses of infectious diseases. The Company’s vision is to make molecular diagnostic testing so simple and cost-effective that every patient will be tested for every serious infection, reducing misdiagnoses and significantly limiting the spread of infectious disease. More information can be found on the company’s website at www.gbscience.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact, including, but not limited to, statements to the effect that Great Basin or its management “anticipates,” “expects,” or “believes,” or the negative of these terms and other similar expressions, should be considered forward-looking statements. The Company intends that any forward-looking statements speak only as of the time of this release. The Company does not undertake to update or revise such forward-looking statements as more information becomes available, except as required by law.

Media Contact:
Martina Schwarzkopf, Ph.D.
Russo Partners, LLC
212.845.4292
martina.schwarzkopf@russopartnersllc.com

Investor Relations Contact:
Bob Yedid
ICR
646.277.1250
Bob.Yedid@icrinc.com

SOURCE Great Basin Scientific, Inc.

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