WuXi NextCODE Announces Executive Leadership Transition

Rob Brainin appointed as CEO to lead next phase of global growth, succeeding co-founder Hannes Smárason, who will continue as senior advisor

SHANGHAI, CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and REYKJAVIK, Iceland, March 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- WuXi  NextCODE, the emerging global platform for genomic data, today announced that Rob Brainin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed as the company's new Chief Executive Officer.  Mr. Brainin, who will lead the next phase of the company's growth, succeeds Hannes Smárason, who will work as a senior advisor for the company as he pursues other entrepreneurial activities. These changes will become effective today.

"The board and I would like to thank Hannes for the many contributions he made to WuXi NextCODE. Our mission is to create a truly global CGO and genomic data platform with powerful solutions to enable anyone, and any company to benefit from the genome, and we look forward to Rob's leadership in our next phase of growth," said Dr. Ge Li, Chairman of WuXi NextCODE, and Chairman of WuXi AppTec Group.

"It has been a pleasure to grow WuXi NextCODE to a global leader in genomics. The decision to step down was made easier by our strong management team and Rob's proven track record of achievement in some of the most successful major enterprises in our space. I look forward to supporting Rob and the executive team in transitioning the Chief Executive role," Mr. Smárason commented.

"This is an exciting time at WuXi NextCODE as we execute our vision to enable anyone to use the genome to improve health and wellness worldwide," said Mr. Brainin. "Our global genomic data platform is moving from a position of leadership to transforming the future of healthcare. I'm honored to lead WuXi NextCODE alongside extraordinary colleagues and partners."

Mr. Brainin has been overseeing the company's global operations and commercial efforts since 2017. Prior to that, he had rich experience at Illumina, Thermo Fisher, Life Technologies, and Invitrogen, commercializing technologies and leading businesses that serve life sciences research customers and customers utilizing genomics in applied markets. He holds a degree in economics from Emory University and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School. 

About WuXi NextCODE

WuXi NextCODE is a fully integrated contract genomics organization (CGO) building the global standard platform for genomic data. With offices in Shanghai; Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Reykjavik, Iceland, we serve the leading population genomics, precision medicine, diagnostics and wellness initiatives and enterprises using the genome to improve health around the world. Our capabilities span study design, sequencing, secondary analysis, storage, interpretation, scalable analytics, and AI and deep learning – all backed by the most proven and widely used technology for organizing, mining and sharing genome sequence data. Visit us on the web at wuxinextcode.com.

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