John Bishop had the option to stay at Vysis after it was purchased by Abbott Laboratories for about $355 million. “But of course once you’ve successfully spun a company out and taken it public and run it in the market, you’re still not going to be functioning as a CEO [at a subsidiary],” says Bishop, former Vysis CEO and president. He considered several alternatives, but the role of CEO at Cepheid was too appealing to pass up. “What Cepheid offered was something where I could make an immediate contribution.