Response Biomedical appoints S. Wayne Kay Chief Executive Officer
Wednesday September 12, 8:30 am ET
VANCOUVER, Sept. 12 /CNW/ - Response Biomedical Corporation (TSX-V: RBM, OTCBB: RPBIF) today announced the appointment of S. Wayne Kay as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Kay was also appointed to the Company's Board of Directors.
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Mr. Kay is a former President, CEO and Director of Quidel Corporation, a leading global company in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of rapid diagnostic solutions at the point-of-care (POC) in infectious diseases and reproductive health. During his tenure he designed and managed a strategy responsible for building and sustaining unprecedented market leadership of rapid influenza testing (from an approximately 2 percent to 49 percent market share). He was also responsible for significantly improving the financial performance of the company during his tenure. Since leaving Quidel in 2004, Mr. Kay served as an executive advisor to the management and boards of several early stage companies, mainly in the San Francisco and San Diego areas. He also served as an executive advisor to one of the US's most successful blue-chip healthcare/life sciences venture capital funds, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.
"We are very excited to have attracted such an experienced, proven executive to lead Response Biomedical," said Dr. Richard Bastiani, Chairman. "Wayne has a wealth of experience in the diagnostics industry, and particularly in POC, and has a proven acumen for building strong teams and executing on strategy. He led Quidel through a strong expansion phase in their history and his many years experience will be invaluable to lead the Company, as we begin our expected rapid growth phase."
"I am very pleased to be joining Response Biomedical at this exciting time in the evolution of the Company," said Mr. Kay. "With partnerships in place with Shionogi & Co. Ltd. and 3M Company, we are poised for strong growth. I look forward to leading the execution of our cardiovascular partnering strategy, as well as the scale-up in manufacturing, the launch of the new RAMP(R) Reader and the regulatory approval of three products, all anticipated in the next few quarters. These are the building blocks which I believe will significantly enhance shareholder value."
Dr. Bastiani continued, "On behalf of the Board of Directors, I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Bill Radvak for his many years of dedicated service to the Company."
As part of Mr. Kay's compensation package, he has been granted options to acquire 1,500,000 common shares of the Company, subject to vesting requirements. The options are exercisable at a price of $1.07 per common share.
About Response Biomedical
Response Biomedical develops, manufactures and markets rapid on-site diagnostic tests for use with its portable RAMP Platform for clinical and environmental applications. RAMP represents a new paradigm in diagnostics that provides high sensitivity and reliable information in minutes. It is ideally suited to both point-of-care testing and laboratory use. The RAMP system consists of a portable fluorescent reader and single-use disposable test cartridges, and has the potential to be adapted to more than 250 medical and non-medical tests currently performed in laboratories. RAMP clinical tests are commercially available for the early detection of heart attack and congestive heart failure.
In late 2006, the Company formed a strategic alliance with 3M Company to commercialize rapid infectious disease tests. In the non-clinical market, RAMP Tests are currently provided for the environmental detection of West Nile Virus, and Biodefense applications including the rapid on-site detection of anthrax, smallpox, ricin and botulinum toxin. Several other product applications are under development. The Company has achieved CE Marking and its Quality Management System is registered to ISO 13485: 2003 and ISO 9001: 2000.
Response Biomedical is a publicly traded company, listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol "RBM" and quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "RPBIF". For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.responsebio.com.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Note on Forward-Looking Statements
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