Febit, of Mannheim, Germany, has named Peter Kuhl as its chief financial officer. Kuhl, who will begin working with febit in January 2002, comes to the microarray startup from OpenShop Holding, a firm that develops internet strategies for companies. At OpenShop, he managed investor relations and controlling, and oversaw the companys initial public offering.
Febits technology combines DNA synthesis, microfluidics-based hybridization, and CCD detection in one benchtop instrument. The company, which also sells custom arrays, plans to deliver its first units to beta testers and to launch a product in spring 2003.
Xanthon, of Research Triangle Park, NC, has appointed Neil Moore as vice president of business development. Moore will be in charge of developing the companys business through corporate collaborations and marketing of the companys ultra-high-density microarray platform. This appointment is a promotion for Moore, who has been working in marketing for Xanthon, which is currently collaborating with Duke University and University of North Carolina researchers to develop electrochemical detection methods for arrays that would enable them to fit up to 10 million electrodes on a chip..
Before joining the company, Moore served as director of business development for the chemical services company SARCO. He also had worked to arrange seed-stage funding for biotechnology companies at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
Daniel Farkas, director of clinical diagnostics at Motorola Life Sciences, is the new president-elect of the Association for Molecular Pathology for 2002. Farkas will serve as president in 2003. The Association for Molecular Pathology is a scientific organization centered around the use of molecular biology techniques for the diagnosis of human disease.
Farkas also serves as the industry representative to the clinical and molecular genetics panel of the FDAs Medical Devices Advisory.