Genesis hones US marketing edge

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Thursday 28th March 2002

Auckland-based biotech Genesis Research and Development Corp (NZSE: GEN) has announced two major executive appointments to harness business deals in North America.

A vice president of business development for plant sciences, Dr Nathan Bach, will be based on the west coast in California and a vice president of business development for health sciences, Dr Benjamin Twombly, will be based on the east coast in Conneticut.

Both executives will be charged with expanding commercial activities in the US including seeking licensing opportunities and identifying and building relationships with potential business partners.

The company says Dr Bach has a wealth of experience in biotechnology and genomics.

"Dr Bach has been appointed to help develop the full potential of the company's plant sciences division and to build on the strengths of existing partnerships with North American companies including MeadWestvaco and International Paper," says Genesis MD Dr Jim Watson

"His appointment is designed to accelerate the pace at which Genesis can deploy its growing base of intellectual property and its highly productive genomics research capabilities."

Prior to joining Genesis Dr Bach was a sales and business development director with genomic sequencing company Integrated Genomics Inc.

The company's new health sciences appointment, Dr Twombly, will be given similar responsibilities in the health sciences sector.

"He has a wealth of experience in biotechnology and is highly respected within the pharmaceutical industry," says Jim Watson.

"His appointment is designed to accelerate the pace at which Genesis can deploy its growing base of intellectual property and its highly productive genomics research capabilities. Genesis expects to establish new partnerships and develop additional revenue streams from licensing new drug candidates and proprietary databases."

Dr Twombly will also be expected to build on the strengths of Genesis' existing partnerships with North American companies such as Immunex, Corixa and Medicis.

Jim Watson says the company has been actively working towards establishing new partnerships in the Northern Hemisphere in the past six months.

"Because of the length of time involved in visiting and entering negotiations with potential partners, it has become increasingly clear that we would be more effective if we sited business development management in the United States."

Although both executives will be based in the US, Dr Watson says they will visit New Zealand regularly for meetings with Genesis management and science teams.

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