CombiMatrix Names New CEO

Officials at CombiMatrix Corp., a molecular diagnostics company performing DNA-based testing services for cancer and developmental disorders, announces that Mark McDonough, currently the company's chief commercial officer, will become chief executive officer following the retirement of CEO R. Judd Jessup, who has announced his retirement, effective March 15, 2013.

McDonough, a resident of San Diego, CA, came to CombiMatrix in 2012 with more than 15 years of experience in sales and business development with a specialty in diagnostics. McDonough previously worked for Fortune 500 companies (EMC and Lab Corp.) as well as successful emerging companies (Ventana Medical Systems) and startups (Pathwork Diagnostics).

Jessup was named CEO in 2010 when CombiMatrix was in the midst of a transition phase from a manufacturing company to a diagnostics lab and services organization. Jessup recently refocused CombiMatrix's commercial efforts on prenatal and pediatric testing in response to the growing demand for molecular diagnostic testing in those specialties.

Part of that strategic and operational shift included the recruitment of McDonough last year to lead the company's commercial efforts.

"In his time at CombiMatrix, McDonough has been responsible for building a robust sales structure to accommodate the new strategic focus and effectively transitioning, equipping and training that team," Jessup says. "We brought Mark in to build and lead our sales team and he has done everything we expected and more. My role at Combimatrix was to lead during the transition to a pure-play diagnostics lab. With that transition complete, we have now refocused the organization on key markets where we are seeing rapid growth, and Mark has led that execution over the past eight months. I believe the company is headed in the right direction, is building momentum and is in very capable hands."

For four years before joining CombiMatrix last August, McDonough was vice president, sales, customer service, and training at Redwood City, CA-based Pathwork Diagnostics. He grew sales each year in that role, served on the executive steering committee and was actively involved in all strategic commercial initiatives.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for me to lead a Company that we believe is well-positioned with a broad opportunity for success," McDonough says. "We have a focused strategy and are building a talented, experienced sales and marketing team. At this point, it is all about execution in the coming periods and continuing to ramp the prenatal testing business. If we continue to execute as we have in recent months, we believe CombiMatrix will gain more market share, capitalize on markets that are now trending in our direction, and, importantly, grow shareholder value."

Prior to Pathwork, from 2002-2008, McDonough worked for Irvine, CA-based USLabs/Dianon (when USLabs was acquired by LabCorp.) and ultimately became vice president of sales. During his time there, he led a 56-member sales team, led various sales and marketing initiatives and helped drive a turnaround effort during a management overhaul.