FREMONT, Calif., April 6 WaferGen Biosystems, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: WGBS), a leading developer of state-of-the-art genetic analysis systems, today announced that it has named industry veteran Janet Lankard as the company's new senior vice president of worldwide sales and support in preparation for the commercialization of the WaferGen SmartChip Real-Time PCR System.
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"To prepare for the transition to commercialization of our SmartChip system, we are focused on building sales, marketing and manufacturing capabilities," said Alnoor Shivji, chairman and chief executive officer, WaferGen.
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"Janet will be responsible for leading our worldwide sales and support activities. Her more than 20 years of sales and executive management experience in genetic analysis at both Applied Biosystems (now Life Technologies) and Affymetrix, combined with her knowledge of PCR technology specifically, enables her to drive the worldwide sales activities of the SmartChip system. In addition, her extensive relationships with biopharma companies, academic and government institutions building advanced application-based partnerships will be extremely helpful in the execution of our commercialization strategy. We are confident that Janet will add tremendous value to the sales and marketing of SmartChip products and services to help us reach our revenue goals," concluded Shivji.
"This is an exciting time to be joining WaferGen," said Ms. Lankard. ""The company is poised to successfully launch a unique innovative technology for use in biomarker, pathway discovery and validation, capable of overcoming the challenges customers face moving from array-based platforms used in discovery and development to Real-Time PCR for validation. The WaferGen technology directives complement my background that is deeply rooted in molecular profiling. I'm thrilled to help drive this next phase of industry adoption and commercial expansion."
Janet Lankard brings more than 20 years of award-winning sales and executive management experience to WaferGen from several biotechnology companies where she was recognized for her outstanding achievements, including sales of PCR and other gene analysis technologies. Most recently at VisEn Medical Inc. where she served as Vice President Sales and Technical Collaborations, Janet executed global sales, business development and the promotional strategy for commercialization and launch of the company's proprietary molecular tomography system. Prior to VisEn, at Applied Biosystems (now Life Technologies), she was recognized as National Sales Professional of the year and overachieved quota seven consecutive years with the company, including sales of Real-Time PCR instrumentation and assays. During her years at Affymetrix, a microarray manufacturer, she was recognized as Regional Sales Director of the year while building the commercial sales force for most of the U.S. and Western Canada. She also served as Vice President Sales and Technical Support at Quantum Dot Inc, where she created pricing strategy, profit margin structure and a customer marketing campaign for the company's gene expression assay and instrument launch into the pharmaceutical compound screening market.
Ms. Lankard has a BS, Biochemistry, from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
About WaferGen
WaferGen Biosystems, Inc. is an emerging leader in the development, manufacture and sale of state-of-the-art systems for genetic analysis for the life science and pharmaceutical industries. The company recently launched its new innovative fee-based service for gene-expression profiling while continuing to actively develop its SmartChip Real-Time PCR System that is designed as the first whole genome, high-throughput gene expression Real-Time PCR platform. Based on collaborations established with leading research institutions, WaferGen believes that the SmartChip Real-Time PCR System is positioned as the platform of choice for biomarker discovery and validation. For additional information, please see http://www.wafergen.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements". Such statements include statements relating to the company's beliefs relating to the commercialization of the company's SmartChip technology, the positioning of the company's SmartChip technology as the platform of choice for biomarker discovery and validation and the expected contributions that Ms. Lankard will make to the company. Such statements are not historical facts and may be preceded by the words "intends," "may," "will," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "predicts," "estimates," "aims," "believes," "hopes," "potential" or similar words.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, are based on certain assumptions and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the company. Actual results may differ materially from the expectations contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such differences include the risks that: (i) the company may be unsuccessful in commercially developing its products or in achieving market acceptance of new and relatively unproven technologies; (ii) the company will need to raise additional capital to meet its business requirements in the future and the company may not be able to do so on reasonable terms or at all; (iii) the company's proprietary intellectual property rights may not adequately protect its products and technologies; and (iv) the company expects intense competition in its target markets, including from companies that have much greater resources than the company, and there can be no assurance that the company will be able to compete effectively. More detailed information about the company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. Investors and security holders are urged to read this document free of charge on the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. The company does not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact: WaferGen Mona Chadha 510-651-4450 [email protected]
SOURCE WaferGen Biosystems, Inc.
