Logo

Pacific Biosciences: Christian Henry, Mike Hunkapiller, William Ericson

Mar 06, 2020

Pacific Biosciences has appointed Christian Henry to serve as chairman of its board of directors, effective immediately.

PacBio said in a statement it was separating the chairman and CEO roles "in alignment with best practices." Mike Hunkapiller, the previous chairman, will continue to serve as president and CEO and will remain on the board. William Ericson of Wildcat Venture Partners will step down as lead independent director but will also continue to serve on the board.

Henry was previously executive VP and chief commercial officer at Illumina. He joined the board in July 2018.

PacBio will provide Henry an annual retainer of $35,000 as well as options to purchase 35,000 shares of common stock.

Breaking News
The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.