Pathwork Diagnostics is applying new discoveries in genomics to unmet clinical needs in oncology. Using proprietary technologies, Pathwork Diagnostics plans to harness the power of genomics information to develop FDA-cleared microarray-based tests that provide physicians with clinically actionable information not available with current diagnostic methods.
Our first test, the Pathwork® Tissue of Origin Test, is expected to aid in the diagnosis of the tissue of origin for poorly differentiated or undifferentiated tumor specimens. National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines emphasize the significance of identifying the tissue of origin so that standard-of-care, tissue-directed treatment recommendations can be followed.
Deborah J. Neff is president and chief executive officer of Pathwork Diagnostics, and also serves on the company's board of directors. She is a veteran of the healthcare industry, with a proven track record of commercializing successful new products and building market-leading global businesses.
Ms. Neff was previously president and chief executive officer of Predicant Biosciences, Inc., a clinical diagnostics company focused on oncology. Prior to that, Ms. Neff served as worldwide president of BD Biosciences, a business segment of Becton Dickinson. Through her leadership, BD Biosciences became a leader in the life sciences industry, with products serving the biomedical research and clinical diagnostic markets. Business growth was driven through both internal technology innovation and through a series of strategic acquisitions under Ms. Neff's leadership, resulting in revenue of approximately $700 million in 2003.
Ms. Neff held a series of roles with increasing responsibilities during her 15 years at BD. Prior to her tenure at BD, she held various management positions at Organon-Teknika Corporation and CooperBiomedical Inc. She began her career with technical and supervisory roles in the clinical laboratory at two major medical centers in Southern California.
Ms. Neff earned a BS in physiology from the University of California, Davis, is a medical technologist, and completed graduate study in immunohematology at Memorial Hospital Medical Center in Long Beach, California. She serves on the board of Advanced Medical Optics, Inc., and ForteBio Inc., and is a member of the Dean's Leadership Council for the College of Biological Sciences at UC Davis. She has previously served on the board of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group and the California Healthcare Institute, and has been a trustee for UC Davis.
Glenda G. Anderson is founder and chief technology officer of Pathwork Diagnostics, where she leads the company's science, technology, research and development activities. She has more than 20 years of executive experience and has led organizations responsible for numerous award-winning medical products from concept through FDA clearance and to market. Many of these products continue to dominate their markets.
Prior to founding Pathwork Informatics in 2003, Ms. Anderson was founder and CEO of Sitemetrics, a website performance measurement company. Before that, she built the Corneal Programs Group at Optical Radiation Corporation and led it through acquisition and merger into Carl Zeiss, Inc. She previously served as head of research and development and quality assurance at a division of Bausch & Lomb. Ms. Anderson began her healthcare career at Baxter Travenol/Baxter Healthcare, where she held a series of management roles of increasing responsibility.
Ms. Anderson holds a BS in engineering from Stanford University and received her MBA from Harvard Business School. She has completed graduate-level coursework in bioinformatics and molecular biology at Stanford University.
Shawn Becker, MD, serves as Pathwork Diagnostics' vice president of marketing, overseeing development and execution of the company's brand and product management, customer support and reimbursement strategies. Dr. Becker brings to the company significant experience in translating innovative technology into healthcare products and services.
Dr. Becker was previously vice president of market development for Predicant Biosciences, a clinical proteomics company focused on oncology diagnostics. Before that, he was senior director of marketing – clinical trials at Affymetrix, where he was responsible for expanding the GeneChip® microarray platform into clinical trials and clinical research.
Previously, Dr. Becker co-founded and was vice president of business development at PlanetRx.com, an online pharmacy company. Prior to that, he worked at CSC/APM Healthcare as a member of the strategic consulting team, specializing in clinical disease management programs.
Dr. Becker completed his internship in primary care internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, after receiving his MD degree from the UCSF School of Medicine, and has an AB degree in history and science from Harvard University.
David Craford serves as Pathwork Diagnostics' vice president, commercial operations, where he leads the company's overall marketing, sales and customer support strategies and operations. He has 20 years experience in the life sciences industry with a proven track record for building new markets and establishing market leadership.
Prior to joining Pathwork, Mr. Craford was most recently vice president of business development at Affymetrix, where he held various business development and marketing leadership roles. During his tenure at Affymetrix, he developed and implemented marketing and sales strategies, successfully brought complex new products to market and delivered strong marketplace results. Prior to Affymetrix, Mr. Craford held senior sales roles at Amersham Life Sciences and sales, marketing, and support roles at BTX, a life sciences instrumentation company.
Mr. Craford received a BA in biochemistry and cell biology from the University of California San Diego and an MBA, with a focus on marketing and finance, from the University of California Berkeley 's Haas School of Business.
Tom Hayhurst is vice president of U.S. sales for Pathwork Diagnostics. He has more than 25 years of healthcare sales and marketing experience, with a focus on building markets for small biotechnology companies.
Prior to joining Pathwork, Mr. Hayhurst served for ten years as principal of The Horizon Performance Group, providing results-oriented, outsourced sales and marketing services to start-up and Fortune 500 companies in the healthcare industry. Before that, he was vice president of sales and marketing for Berkeley HeartLab. Earlier in his career, Mr. Hayhurst held management positions in sales and marketing for Behring Diagnostics, Critical Care America, Amersham Corporation and the diagnostics division of Abbott Laboratories.
Mr. Hayhurst earned a BS in marketing from Morehead State University in Kentucky and served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps. He is a frequent speaker at laboratory industry conferences and has authored numerous articles in industry trade publications. Mr. Hayhurst serves on the American Association for Clinical Chemistry's subcommittees for molecular pathology and laboratory information systems and has previously served on the board of the Biomedical Marketing Association.
W. David Henner, MD, PhD, serves as chief medical officer for Pathwork Diagnostics, where he will provide clinical and medical leadership for the company's clinical pipeline development, thought leader development, collaborations and clinical study design. Dr. Henner brings 25 years of significant scientific, clinical and industry experience to the company.
Prior to Pathwork, Dr. Henner was vice president of oncology at Novacea, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, where he oversaw clinical development of the company's lead product candidates. Prior to that, he was vice president for clinical research and development at Telik, Inc., where he was responsible for conducting clinical trials of the company's oncology drug candidates.
Dr. Henner began his career on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from 1982 to 1988. From 1988 to 2001, Dr. Henner served as professor of medicine and pharmacology at Oregon Health & Science University, where he conducted research on anti-cancer drugs and practiced medical oncology.
Dr. Henner has published more than 70 papers and has been issued three U.S. patents for his discoveries. He received his MD and PhD in microbiology from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Henner completed his medical residency at the University of Chicago Hospital and his clinical fellowship in medical oncology at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He also holds an MBA from the University of Oregon.
Claudia B. Mellen leads business development and oversees financial and administrative functions for Pathwork Diagnostics. She brings to the company over two decades of global life sciences, financial, and strategic planning experience. Her particular expertise includes creating and managing alliances, technology ventures and strategic relationships.
Most recently, Ms. Mellen headed business development at Predicant Biosciences, a venture-backed molecular diagnostics company targeting the oncology market. She previously served with Becton Dickinson, notably as vice president of business development and alliances – worldwide consumer healthcare. In this role, she spearheaded innovative partnering strategies to enter new clinical diagnostics and chronic disease management markets.
Previously, Ms. Mellen was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and Marakon Associates, where she formulated growth strategies, assessed and implemented merger and acquisition opportunities, and accelerated portfolio development for numerous global healthcare and technology clients.
Ms. Mellen holds an AB from Stanford University and an MBA in strategy and finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mark Scratch serves as Pathwork Diagnostics' vice president, operations and quality systems. In this capacity, he leads operations strategy development and implementation for the company’s laboratory services and diagnostic kits. He also manages and develops Pathwork Diagnostics’ quality systems and processes that support Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) compliance.
Mr. Scratch has more than 20 years of laboratory and medical diagnostics experience, with a focus on operations. Most recently, he was with Bayer Healthcare LLC (formerly Metrika) for 11 years from 1996 to 2008. As senior director of operations, he led all of the venture-backed company's manufacturing operations for its in vitro diagnostic diabetes monitoring products. Prior to Bayer, Mr. Scratch was with Behring Diagnostics (formerly Syva) from 1990 to 1996, where he held numerous positions in manufacturing and antibody management for reagents.
Earlier in his career, he was a laboratory technician in a diagnostic reference laboratory and a medical technologist for the United States Army. His education is in Medical Technology and Quality Assurance.
