NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Affymetrix has named Andrew Last to be company chief operation officer and David Weber as chief commercial officer, the company said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week.
Last previously was executive VP of the firm's Genetic Analysis business unit, and Weber formerly was executive VP of global commercial operations.
Last and Weber will report to Frank Witney, Affymetrix's president and CEO. These organizational changes will allow Witney to spend more time refining the company's strategic vision and product portfolio, the company said.
WaferGen has made changes to its board of directors following the firm's acquisition of IntegenX's next-gen sequencing library prep business. The company has reduced the size of its board of directors to seven from nine. In addition, Robert Schueren, IntegenX's CEO, will join WaferGen's board of directors. Prior to his role at IntegenX, Schueren was vice president and general manager of genomics at Agilent Technologies.
The board also appointed William McKenzie as a director, effective Dec. 30, 2013. Most recently, he served as president and general manager of molecular diagnostics at PerkinElmer.
Scott Davidson and Joseph Pesce, representatives of Great Point Partners, stepped down from the board, as did Robert Coradini and Timothy Triche.
Swiss sample prep company Spinomix has appointed Nasri Nahas as CEO.
Nahas was previously CEO of Geneva Bioinformatics, which he joined in 2011. Prior to that, Nahas held various scientific and business positions at biotech companies such as Genset and ValiGen.
Spinomix named Nahas as CEO in conjunction with an announcement that it had reached a milestone in its molecular diagnostics sample prep development plan, triggering an undisclosed second tranche payment from investor Debiopharm.
Vermillion said this week that it has eliminated the position of VP of sales and marketing, and due to the change, the company let go of William Creech, who held that post. The company struck a short-term agreement with Creech, under which he will serve as a consultant through Feb. 5. Vermillion said it cut the position due to recent changes in its sales and marketing organization.
QuantuMDx CEO Elaine Warburton is being recognized for her work in the molecular diagnostics field and being dubbed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 2008, Warburton co-founded QuantuMDx, which is developing a number of array-based point-of-care tests.
Tony Bridgewater has been appointed to be director of the European Bioenergy Research Institute at Aston University, UK.
EBRI, which launched last October, is a research center aimed at developing second generation biofuels from waste materials and non-food crops.
Bridgewater, who founded Aston University's Bioenergy Research Group in 1987, leads a group of researcher focused on the scientific and technological aspects of biomass production, conversion, and the use of products for renewable energy applications.
Ajinomoto Althea, a contract manufacturing organization based in San Diego, has appointed David Enloe as president and CEO.
Enloe has more than 20 years of experience in executive management of biotech and drug development businesses. He recently was head of the Viral Therapeutics Business Unit at Lonza, and before that, he was founder and CEO of Vivante GMP Solutions (which he sold to Lonza), and president and CEO of Introgen Therapeutics, which later became the basis for Vivante.
Enloe joined Ajinomoto Althea on Dec. 16, 2013.
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