Sweetwater Private Equity recognizes Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp. and its CEO Chad Robins for leadership during COVID-19 crisis

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Apr 28, 2020, 06:00 ET

SAN DIEGO, April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sweetwater Investment Management ("Sweetwater" or "Sweetwater Private Equity" (dba)) announced during their recent annual investor meeting the selection of Chad Robins, CEO of Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp. (Nasdaq: ADPT), as the Sweetwater Leadership and Innovation Award recipient. Each year Sweetwater selects one of the most innovative and inspiring leaders from its portfolio companies. "Mr. Robins is one of the most brilliant leaders of our time," said Mr. James Gamett, Founder & Managing Partner of Sweetwater. "As CEO of Adaptive Biotechnologies, he leads the effort to decode the adaptive immune system and map population-wide immune responses to diseases at scale, including COVID-19."

In the past Mr. Robins has been selected as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young for the Pacific Northwest (2017). In 2015 he was honored as one of Goldman Sachs' Top 100 Builders and Innovators in America. "I am honored to have Sweetwater recognize the hard work and determination of the entire Adaptive team," said Mr. Robins. "We are applying our platform in two important ways on the diagnostic and therapeutic fronts to address COVID-19. We are experiencing an unprecedent moment in history when the biopharma industry, academic researchers and public health officials are coming together as one to put an end to this pandemic, and we are grateful to groups like Sweetwater who identify and support innovation."

Sweetwater announced the award during its annual investor meeting in early February before the nationwide shutdown for the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that time, Adaptive has expanded its partnership with Microsoft to decode the immune system's response to COVID-19 in order to develop a novel diagnostic to potentially address gaps in the current testing paradigm. Furthermore, Adaptive and Amgen announced they will identify and develop therapeutic antibodies from the blood of patients who are actively fighting or have recently recovered from COVID-19. "We will eventually overcome this challenge, and when we do, we will find companies like Adaptive at the center of the solution," says Gregg Parise, Managing Partner at Sweetwater.

About Sweetwater Private Equity
Sweetwater Private Equity (www.sweetwaterpe.com) (fka Sweetwater Capital Partners) is a boutique private equity manager that specializes in niche secondary opportunities. Sweetwater is a leader of Single-Asset Secondaries and Buyer-led Fund Restructures – a type of secondary transaction where buyer selects fund assets for purchase and assumes the role of general partner in ongoing asset management activities. Sweetwater focuses on venture capital, growth equity and small buyout opportunities with an emphasis in the healthcare, technology, and consumer sectors.

SOURCE Sweetwater Investment Management