Epic Sciences Appoints Dr. Greg Critchfield to Board of Directors
SAN DIEGO, July 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Epic Sciences, Inc. ("Epic Sciences"), a private biotech company that develops diagnostics to personalize the treatment and management of cancer, announced today the appointment of Gregory C. Critchfield, M.D. to Epic Sciences' board of directors. As current chairman, president and CEO of Sera Prognostics, Inc. and former president of Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc., Dr. Critchfield has more than 30 years of experience in the clinical pathology and diagnostics space.
"The Epic Sciences team is at the forefront of unlocking the clinical utility of liquid biopsies," said Dr. Critchfield. "With an unparalleled ability to identify and isolate individual circulating tumor cells and perform single cell genomic and proteomic analysis, Epic Sciences can provide insights into cancer heterogeneity and mutation mix that will have a profound impact on how therapies are chosen."
"Greg has a tremendous track record of technical and commercial success in the diagnostics industry," said Murali Prahalad, Ph.D, president and CEO of Epic Sciences. "His depth of experience in the science and policy of clinical diagnostics spanning test development, the demonstration of clinical utility and successful pursuit of reimbursement is truly unique. That experience will be invaluable as we accelerate toward regulatory clearance and commercial launch of diagnostic tests that will transform cancer treatment from educated guesswork to true precision medicine."
In nearly 12 years as president, Dr. Critchfield built Myriad Genetic Laboratories into one of the world's leading molecular diagnostics companies. Under his leadership, Myriad Genetic Laboratories launched seven novel molecular diagnostic products across a variety of technology platforms, posting 52 percent compounded annual revenue growth from 1998 through 2010. Prior to joining Myriad, Dr. Critchfield was chief medical and science officer for Quest Diagnostics, Inc., overseeing medical affairs and innovation activities in its transformation from Corning Clinical Laboratories. He has also served on the faculty of three medical schools: University of Minnesota, Wayne State University, and Duke University, and was a practicing clinical pathologist with Intermountain Healthcare.
Dr. Critchfield also currently serves on the boards of Integrated Diagnostics, Inc., Nodality, Inc., and Metamark Genetics, Inc. He holds a B.S. in microbiology from Brigham Young University, and a M.D. from the University of Utah College of Medicine, and an M.S. in biophysical sciences from the University of Minnesota.
Epic Sciences is developing highly sensitive and informative diagnostic tests to rapidly quantify the genomic and proteomic changes that occur over time during the course of a patient's cancer. Following a simple blood draw, Epic Sciences' "no cell left behind" platform identifies CTCs without enrichment or depletion on any parameter. The company recently published data demonstrating that its platform has the capability to detect all categories of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood, whereas other technologies rely on size or surface marker parameters and can "miss" CTCs critical to delivering a comprehensive view of cancer heterogeneity. Epic Sciences also recently announced that its technology can identify and retrieve cells for genomic and proteomic analysis on a single cell level, adding a further level of precision to detect early signs of drug resistance and inform therapy selection, including combination therapies.
About Epic Sciences
Epic Sciences, Inc. is developing novel diagnostics to personalize and advance the treatment and management of cancer. Epic's mission is to enable the rapid and non-invasive detection of genetic and molecular changes in cancer throughout a patient's journey. The company was founded on a powerful platform to identify and characterize rare cells, including circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Epic's no cell left behind™ technology helps match patients to targeted therapies and monitor for drug resistance, so that the best treatment path can be chosen at every clinical decision point. Today, we partner with leading pharmaceutical companies and major cancer centers around the world. Epic's goal is to commercialize our technology to increase the success rate of cancer drugs in clinical trials and improve patient outcomes by providing physicians real-time information to guide treatment choices.
Further information is available on the Company's website, www.epicsciences.com. Stay in touch on Twitter @EpicSciences or on Facebook.com/EpicSciences.
SOURCE Epic Sciences, Inc.
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