Berkeley Lights Announces CEO Transition as Part of Succession Planning

EMERYVILLE, Calif., March 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkeley Lights, Inc. (BLI), a company dedicated to bringing to market transformational platforms for biopharmaceutical processes, announced today that chief executive officer (CEO) Igor Khandros, Ph.D. is stepping down as part of the Company's ongoing leadership succession planning. Berkeley Lights' board of directors has named Eric D. Hobbs, Ph.D., the Company's current senior vice president of Operations and Consumables, as CEO and appointed him a member of the board, effective immediately. Dr. Khandros will remain on the board of directors and actively lead the Company's strategic partnerships and initiatives.

"Today's announcement is the culmination of an internal talent development process and succession planning and has the unanimous support of the Board," said Michael Marks, Chairman of Berkeley Lights' board. "We are certain Eric is prepared for these new responsibilities and is the right choice to lead Berkeley Lights into the commercial phase of its growth." 

Marks continued: "As a co-founder of Berkeley Lights, Igor's leadership, vision and passion were integral to building the company. In addition to continuing his service on the board, Igor has enthusiastically agreed to take an active role in the company's strategic initiatives."

Commenting on Dr. Hobbs' promotion and the transition, Dr. Khandros said, "Eric has played a critical role in managing Berkeley Lights' business operations, including the recent introduction of our Beacon platform. Eric is passionate about building strong teams and promoting internal employee development, and I look forward to supporting him in his new role.  While I am stepping down as CEO, I will maintain a very active presence in the company as I direct my energies to creating and building strategic partnerships."

"This is an exciting time at Berkeley Lights and I am humbled by the confidence the board is placing in me," said Dr. Hobbs. "We are delivering platforms that fundamentally change the way biological processes are done. Our technology and people are positioned to revolutionize how scientists and researchers study the interaction of individual cells and, ultimately, to transform and accelerate cellular therapies." 

Dr. Hobbs joined Berkeley Lights in 2013 and has served in several management roles, most recently as senior vice president, Operations and Consumables. He holds more than 30 U.S. and International Patents and has lectured at UC Berkeley and Stanford University on Engineering Design, Invention, and Optimization Algorithms. Dr. Hobbs earned his Ph.D. & M.S. in MEMS Design and Microfluidic Devices at UC Berkeley after receiving a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at USC.

About Berkeley Lights:

‪Berkeley Lights, Inc. (BLI) develops and commercializes platforms on which many bio-pharmaceutical, genomic, and cellular therapy applications will run. BLI launched its first commercial platform, the Beacon™, in December 2016.  The Beacon platform, originally released for single cell based antibody discovery and cell line development, is now set to expand capabilities in cell and gene therapies and other research. BLI's transformative platforms will enable a capability leap in single cell-by-cell differentiation, measurement and culture to ultimately empower the reactivation of a patient's own immune system to defeat diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders.

Berkeley Lights' Beacon platform is: For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

For more information, visit http://www.berkeleylights.com/.

SOURCE Berkeley Lights, Inc.

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