Organovo Announces CEO Transition
April 11 2017 - 3:05PM
Taylor J. Crouch Named Chief Executive Officer,
Effective April 24, 2017
Organovo Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONVO) (“Organovo”), a
three-dimensional biology company focused on delivering scientific
and medical breakthroughs using its 3D bioprinting technology,
today announced that Keith Murphy will be stepping down as chief
executive officer to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities,
effective April 21, 2017. Organovo’s board of directors has
appointed Taylor J. Crouch, previously CEO of eStudySite, a leading
investigative clinical research company, to succeed Mr. Murphy as
CEO. Mr. Murphy will remain chairman of the board, and will
serve as an advisor to the Company to ensure a seamless transition
and offer his counsel and expertise.
Lead director, Kirk Malloy, Ph.D. stated, “On behalf of the
board, I want to thank Keith for his many contributions to Organovo
and the groundbreaking innovations he helped pioneer. Keith
saw the value in 3D bioprinting technology before the market
existed, and had the vision to take it from its earliest stages in
academic labs, and develop it into a global business with a robust
commercial platform and strong IP portfolio. We support
Keith’s decision to step down and agree this is the opportune time
to bring Taylor on to lead Organovo in its next phase of commercial
growth. We also appreciate his willingness to continue to
serve the Company.”
Mr. Murphy said, “I am extremely proud of the progress we have
made in the last ten years achieving our vision for Organovo.
Our 3D bioprinted human tissues are a disruptive and game-changing
technology. Founding Organovo and guiding us to our
leadership position in 3D bioprinting has been a privilege, and I
am extremely grateful to my Organovo colleagues who assisted in
building this success, as well as all of our partners and
customers. I am a true believer in our existing tissue research
services, the potential of our therapeutic liver tissue, and the
future opportunities enabled by our platform technology. The
time is right to bring in a CEO with the relevant commercial
experience to lead the company into its next stage. I have
great confidence in Organovo’s continued growth and success, and I
look forward to working with the board and Taylor over the coming
months to ensure that this transition is seamless for all of our
stakeholders.”
Mr. Crouch said, “I am excited and honored to succeed Keith as
Organovo’s CEO. Keith is an exceptional leader who built
Organovo into the strong global company it is today. I look
forward to working with the seasoned management team and all my
talented new colleagues to further advance 3D human tissue
bioprinting technology, advance solutions that benefit patients and
drive the commercialization and scale of our business.”
Commenting on Mr. Crouch’s appointment, Dr. Malloy said, “Taylor
is uniquely positioned to lead our growing company into its next
phase given his significant commercial and operations experience.
We are confident that Taylor’s extensive skills and expertise
in the biotechnology and life sciences industries align with
Organovo’s strategy to capitalize fully on its growth
opportunities. The board looks forward to working with Taylor
and the management team to execute against our strategy and
continuing to create meaningful value for stockholders.”
About Taylor J. CrouchMr. Crouch has over 25
years of experience building and leading technology, expertise and
product-based companies in the life sciences and biotech
industries. For more than seven years, he has managed and
served as an operational investor in a group of leading clinical
research site companies. Specifically, Mr. Crouch served as
Chief Executive Officer at eStudySite, a position he held from
January 2009 to June 2016; as Executive Chairman of Meridien
Research from December 2013 to September 2016; and as a Director of
the National Research Institute from September 2011 through July
2016. He was instrumental in building these three sister
companies, and helping them to achieve significant and profitable
growth and to become recognized leaders in their respective fields
of infectious disease, CNS disorders and metabolic disease.
Prior to this, Mr. Crouch served as Senior Vice President of
Operations/President International at Ligand Pharmaceuticals from
2005 to 2007, with responsibilities for new business development,
technical operations, international sales and clinical
research. Prior to Ligand, he was President and Chief
Operating Officer of Discovery Partners International (NASDAQ:
formerly DPII – a large drug discovery services and technology
provider). Earlier in his career, he was Chief Executive
Officer of Variagenics (NASDAQ: formerly VGNX – a leading
pharmacogenomics company), Senior Vice President of Marketing and
Sales at Parexel – a global CRO, and he also held international
management positions in new product development and
commercialization at Pfizer and Schering Plough. Mr. Crouch
holds a BSE in chemical engineering, cum laude, from Princeton
University and an MBA in international marketing and finance from
the University of Chicago.
About Organovo Holdings,
Inc.Organovo designs and creates functional,
three-dimensional human tissues for use in medical research and
therapeutic applications. The Company develops 3D human
tissue models through internal development and in collaboration
with pharmaceutical, academic and other partners.
Organovo's 3D human tissues have the potential to accelerate
the drug discovery process, enabling treatments to be developed
faster and at lower cost. The Company’s ExVive Human Liver
and Kidney Tissues are used in toxicology and other preclinical
drug testing. The Company also actively conducts early
research on specific tissues for therapeutic use in direct surgical
applications. In addition to numerous scientific
publications, the Company’s technology has been featured
in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The Economist,
Forbes, and numerous other media outlets. Organovo is
changing the shape of life science research and transforming
medical care. Learn more
at www.organovo.com.
Forward-Looking Statements Any statements
contained in this press release that do not describe historical
facts constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined
in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any
forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current
expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties. The factors that could cause the Company's
actual future results to differ materially from current
expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and
uncertainties relating to the Company's ability to develop, market
and sell products and services based on its technology; the
expected benefits and efficacy of the Company's products, services
and technology; the Company’s ability to successfully complete
studies and provide the technical information required to support
market acceptance of its products, services and technology, on a
timely basis or at all; the Company's business, research, product
development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans
and strategies, including its use of third party distributors; the
Company's ability to successfully complete the contracts and
recognize the revenue represented by the contracts included in its
previously reported total contract bookings and secure additional
contracted collaborative relationships; the final results of the
Company's preclinical studies may be different from the Company's
studies or interim preclinical data results and may not support
further clinical development of its therapeutic tissues; the
Company may not successfully complete the required preclinical and
clinical trials required to obtain regulatory approval for its
therapeutic tissues on a timely basis or at all; and the Company’s
ability to meet its fiscal year 2017 outlook and/or its long-range
outlook. These and other factors are identified and described
in more detail in the Company's filings with the SEC,
including its Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with
the SEC on June 9, 2016 and its Quarterly Report on
Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on February 9, 2017. You should
not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date that they were made. These
cautionary statements should be considered with any written or oral
forward-looking statements that the Company may issue in the
future. Except as required by applicable law, including the
securities laws of the United States, the Company does
not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to
conform these statements to reflect actual results, later events or
circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events.
Investor Contact:
Steve Kunszabo
Organovo Holdings, Inc.
+1 (858) 224-1092
skunszabo@organovo.com
Press Contact:
Jessica Yingling, Ph.D.
Little Dog Communications
+1 (858) 480-2411
jessica@litldog.com
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