CEO transition for OncoCyte

 

OncoCyte Corp. has chosen Ronald Andrews as CEO. Company executives say Andrews brings to OncoCyte more than 30 years of diverse experience in the clinical and molecular diagnostics field, with a particular focus on oncology. OncoCyte’s former CEO William Annett remains with the company in an advisory role.

“Since joining the board, and serving on both its Science and Technology Committee and Finance and Strategy Committee, I have been impressed with the OncoCyte team, and the tremendous progress they have made in a very short period of time,” Andrews says.

According to Andrews, the immune interrogation capabilities of OncoCyte’s platform technology, which uses only biomarkers of the body’s response to cancer, represents an entirely new approach to molecular panel development and has the potential to improve the cancer screening, detection and diagnosis paradigm.

“In addition to the potential of our lung panel to prevent a significant number of risky and unnecessary biopsies, this novel testing platform may also allow for the earlier detection of cancer when patient outcomes can potentially be more favorable, as well as identify therapeutic efficacy and resistance more effectively than current approaches,” Andrews says. “I believe DetermaVu™ represents a true breakthrough in the molecular diagnostics field and I am very excited to lead and build the OncoCyte team as we position the business to bring this groundbreaking technology to physicians and patients, while creating long-term value for our shareholders.”

Before joining OncoCyte as CEO, Andrews was the founder and principal of the Bethesda Group, a company focused on helping organizations in the molecular diagnostics and genomics industries. Before that, he served as president of the Genetic Science Division for Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he oversaw the integration of Life Technologies’ genetic platforms, including the company’s chip-based Next Generation Sequencing Technology, Ion Torrent. Prior to taking on the challenge of integrating all of Life’s genetic platform business into one cohesive unit, Andrews was president of Life’s Medical Sciences Venture.

Before joining Life Technologies, he served as CEO of Clarient Inc. (formerly ChromaVision Medical Systems Inc.), which was sold to GE Healthcare in 2010. He subsequently served as CEO of GE Molecular Diagnostics for one year following the deal close.

From 2000 to 2004, Andrews held various senior executive roles at Roche Molecular Diagnostics, as well as at Roche Diagnostics Corporation.

From 1995 to 2000, he served as VP of marketing at Immucor Inc. where he helped lead the transition of the company from a reagent manufacturer to an instrument systems company. Before Immucor, Andrews spent almost 10 years in management positions of increasing responsibility at Abbott Diagnostics, culminating in a senior marketing role in its Business Unit Operations.

“Having worked with Ronnie since he joined our board last April, I have witnessed first-hand the positive impact his contributions have had on our vision and strategy, and I am pleased that he is joining the leadership team as we transition to becoming a commercial-stage company,” says Cavan Redmond, chairman of the board. “As we plan for the commercial availability of DetermaVu™ later this year, we believe Ronnie’s successful track record spanning operations, product commercialization and business development at several highly regarded diagnostic companies provides him with the ideal skill set to lead OncoCyte at this important stage in the company’s evolution.

“On behalf of the board of directors, I would also like to thank Bill Annett for his guidance and leadership as we efficiently advanced DetermaVu™ through critical development stages, positioning us for long-term success. I am pleased that we will continue to benefit from his insights through this transition period, and wish him the very best going forward.”