Synthetic Genomics Inc. Appoints Joel McComb as Chief Operating Officer

LA JOLLA, Calif., Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Synthetic Genomics Inc. (SGI), a privately held company applying genomic-driven commercial solutions to a variety of global challenges including energy and the environment, today announced that Joel McComb will join the company as Chief Operating Officer, effective March 1, 2010.

In his new role as COO, McComb will be responsible for the day to day management of all aspects of SGI's business. He will report to J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., SGI Founder and CEO.  

"Joel brings 25 years of solid life sciences and business experience that will be an important asset to SGI as we continue our growth and development as a company," said Dr. Venter.

McComb comes to SGI from Illumina where he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the company's $650 million Life Sciences Business Unit. He was responsible for leading global product development, business strategy, and overall operations in support of the company's business that includes DNA sequencing and array products and services. McComb was directly involved in the development and launch of Illumina's successful next generation sequencing technology, the HiSeq 2000.

Prior to joining Illumina, McComb held two high level positions at General Electric, Inc. He joined the company in 2004 as President, Healthcare Life Sciences-Discovery Systems, a global business area that develops and markets molecular biology, genomics, cellular imaging, animal imaging and radio-chemical products and technologies. In 2007, he was appointed President of GE Healthcare, Interventional Medicine, a $700 million division of GE Healthcare which provides a broad collection of medical products and technologies to the global healthcare community.

From 2001 to 2004 McComb was President, CEO and board member of Innovadyne Technologies, Inc., a developer of innovative liquid handling technology. He led the company through start up, profitability and the eventual purchase of the company. Prior to this, McComb held a series of executive, product development, business and sales positions at Beckman Coulter Inc., Bausch and Lomb, and 3M.

McComb received an MBA from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, and a BS in Genetics from the University of California, Davis.  

About Synthetic Genomics Inc (SGI)

SGI, a privately held company founded in 2005, is dedicated to developing and commercializing genomic-driven solutions to address global energy and environment challenges. The company's main research and business programs include: designing advanced biofuels with superior properties compared to ethanol and biodiesel; harnessing photosynthetic organisms to produce value added products directly from sunlight and carbon dioxide; developing new biological solutions to increase production and/or recovery rates of subsurface hydrocarbons and developing high-yielding, more disease resistant and economic feedstocks. For more information please visit www.syntheticgenomics.com.

Media Contact: Heather Kowalski, [email protected], 858-361-0466

SOURCE Synthetic Genomics Inc.