Empire Genomics Appoints New Leadership and Relocates Headquarters to Support Growing Demand from Clinical Laboratories Around the World

February 19, 2019
Company appoints industry veteran Andy Watson as Chief Executive Officer to build on recent 2018 successes and enable more customers to advance genetic research and improve patient care

WILLIAMSVILLE, NY, UNITED STATES - Feb 19, 2019 - Empire Genomics Inc., the premier global provider of clinical and custom labeled molecular probes, today announced the appointments of Andy Watson as Chief Executive Officer and Anthony Scarpello to Chief Commercialization Officer, and the opening of its new headquarters in Williamsville, NY. After a successful and profitable 2018, the company is now focused on increasing operational efficiencies, driving its long-term commercial growth strategy and enabling more customers to advance biomarker research, accelerate diagnosis and improve treatment options for individual patients battling cancer and other complex diseases. 

 

Empire Genomics designs, manufactures and distributes a comprehensive menu of custom and clinical molecular probes. Founded by prominent human genomics pioneer, Norma J. Nowak, PhD, the company has evolved from a Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center spin-out in 2006 to a leading provider of Fluorescence In SituHybridization (FISH) and Chromogenic In SituHybridization (CISH) probes. These innovative products are currently being used by hundreds of leading clinical laboratories, biotechnology companies and academic institutions around the world.

 

“Empire Genomics is now at a very exciting inflection point in our commercial evolution after quickly becoming a leading global provider of molecular diagnostic FISH probes,” said Norma J. Nowak, PhD, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Empire Genomics. “Andy and Anthony are both highly respected industry leaders and the fact that we were able to attract and retain top-tier executive talent is not only a testament to the legacy of the company but also the quality of our technology and our proven ability to consistently deliver products that improve genetic research and patient care.”

 

Proven Leadership

Both Andy Watson and Anthony Scarpello bring a successful track record of leading genomics and molecular diagnostic companies, increasing operational efficiencies and delivering innovative life science and clinical laboratory products. 

 

Andy Watson

Chief Executive Officer 

As the new Chief Executive Officer, Andy Watson brings more than two decades of leadership experience in developing, managing and commercializing innovative genomics technologies. Previously, Mr. Watson was the Chief Executive Officer at Genturi, a genomics technology start-up company, and the Chief Commercial Officer at RainDance Technologies, a leading provider of microfluidic targeted sequencing and digital PCR technologies that was acquired by Bio-Rad Laboratories. Prior to Raindance, he was the Vice President of SOLiD Sequencing Product Management at Life Technologies, where he was responsible for business strategy, marketing, and product management for next-generation sequencing. Mr. Watson led Applied Biosystems’ (now part of Life Technologies) $550M capillary electrophoresis (CE) sequencing business, including instruments, reagents, and software. During his career, he has raised more than $140 million from corporate partnerships, venture capital, debt, and government grants, and has been a key player in M&A with deals up to $725 million.  He is an inventor on 16 patents and author of 10 peer-reviewed scientific publications, including papers that showcased results of a landmark human genome sequencing study and a critical C. elegansgenome sequencing project.

 

Anthony Scarpello 

Chief Commercialization Officer

Mr. Scarpello was promoted from Vice President of Sales and Business Development to Chief Commercialization Officer. Since joining Empire Genomics in 2009, he has been responsible for building long-term relationships with customers, guiding product and service line extensions and penetrating new markets. Mr. Scarpello previously held numerous senior management roles with Enzo Life Sciences, where he built the commercial team and drove the expansion of the business development practice.

 

New Headquarters

In the past year, Empire Genomics relocated to its new 13,000 square foot headquarters in Williamsville, NY. The more extensive laboratory and office facility triples the size of the previous workspace and enables the company to expand operations and recruit top-tier scientific talent.

 

About Empire Genomics

Empire Genomics designs, manufactures and distributes a comprehensive menu of clinical and custom labeled molecular probes, enabling hundreds of leading global clinical laboratories, biotechnology organizations and academic institutions to advance biomarker research, accelerate diagnoses and improve personalized treatment options for patients battling cancer and other complex diseases. The company was founded in 2006 by Norma J. Nowak, PhD, a prominent member of the Human Genome Project, to utilize innovative research started at the prestigious Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. The product portfolio includes Fluorescence in SituHybridization (FISH) and Chromogenic in SituHybridization (CISH) probes that are designed and optimized for specific diseases, genes, and/or regions across the entire human or mouse genomes. The company’s technology has now been cited in more than 500 peer-reviewed scientific publications. For more information, please visit www.empiregenomics.com.