SAN DIEGO, May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sequenom, Inc. announced today that Betty Dragon, Ph.D. has joined the Company as Senior Vice President of Research and Development. Dr. Dragon has over 25 years of diagnostics R&D, management, and leadership experience, including significant product development and commercialization planning and execution achievements during her tenure at Roche Molecular Systems from 1990 to 2006.
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At Roche, Dr. Dragon held many leadership roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as Senior Vice President of Global Standardization and Vice President of Diagnostics Development. She pioneered the development and commercialization of PCR-based diagnostic tests and ultimately led the global commercialization of numerous FDA-approved diagnostic products. Her successes include the development and commercialization of the AMPLICOR(R), COBAS AMPLICOR(TM), COBAS AmpliPrep(TM), and COBAS TaqMAN(R) reagent product lines and their integration with system configurations for those reagents. Roche’s molecular diagnostics sales revenues, including significant contribution from these product lines, were almost 1.2 billion Swiss francs (close to $1 billion U.S.) for 2005.
“We are extremely pleased that Betty has chosen to become part of the team here at Sequenom,” said Harry Stylli, M.B.A., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer. “Betty’s experience is ideally suited for advancing our prenatal and molecular diagnostics R&D and commercial initiatives as well as developing new applications for our core MassARRAY(R) systems and services business. We look forward to benefiting from the substantial leadership, experience, and energy that she will bring to Sequenom.”
Dr. Dragon earned her Ph.D. in Virology and Cell Biology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, is an author of numerous publications, and has received numerous awards, fellowships, and grants.
About Sequenom
Sequenom is committed to providing the best genetic analysis products that translate genomic science into superior solutions for non-invasive prenatal testing, biomedical research, molecular medicine and agricultural applications. The Company’s proprietary MassARRAY system is a high-performance DNA analysis platform that efficiently and precisely measures the amount of genetic target material and variations therein. The system is able to deliver reliable and specific data from complex biological samples and from genetic target material that is only available in trace amounts. The Company has exclusively licensed intellectual property rights for the development and commercialization of non-invasive prenatal genetic tests for use with the MassARRAY system and other platforms.
Sequenom(R) and MassARRAY(R) are trademarks of Sequenom, Inc.
AMPLICOR(R), COBAS AMPLICOR(TM), COBAS AmpliPrep(TM), and COBAS TaqMAN(R) are trademarks of Roche Molecular Systems.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements regarding advancing Sequenom’s prenatal and molecular diagnostics R&D and commercial initiatives, developing new applications, and benefiting from Dr. Dragon’s employment, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the risks detailed from time to time in Sequenom’s SEC filings, including Sequenom’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, its most recently filed quarterly report on Form 10-Q, and its proxy statement for its upcoming annual shareholder meeting. These forward-looking statements are based on current information that is likely to change. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and Sequenom undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the issuance of this press release.
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CONTACT: Clarke Neumann, Investor Relations of Sequenom, Inc.,+1-858-202-9206, cneumann@sequenom.com
Web site: http://www.sequenom.com/
