Genomic Health plans to establish wholly owned subsidiary

Genomic Health, Inc.Feb 7 2012

Genomic Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: GHDX) today announced plans to establish a wholly owned subsidiary with the goal of improving the quality of diagnosis, communication and support for millions of patients and their families faced with common and rare genetic conditions.   The subsidiary is expected to be established by March 1, 2012 and provide its first commercial service in 2013.  The new venture will be led by Randy Scott, who in his role as Executive Chairman for the past three years has focused on commercial applications of next generation sequencing.  

The new subsidiary will focus on accelerating the integration of the human genome into medical practice with an emphasis on bioinformatics and clinical utility.  Dr. Scott will be CEO of the new subsidiary and remain a Genomic Health Board member and Kim Popovits, President and Chief Executive Officer, will assume the additional role of Chairman of the Board effective March 1, 2012.  In a related action, Julian Baker has been named as Lead Independent Director.

"As the cost of DNA sequencing continues to drop, new medical applications with the potential to impact millions of people are rapidly emerging," said Randy Scott, Executive Chairman of Genomic Health.   "We are at a unique turning point in medicine and believe the investment we have made over the past several years in the development of a robust next generation sequencing platform and the capabilities we have established in building a successful cancer genomic business make this the ideal time to expand into both common and rare genetic conditions and expect this new start-up to be a significant long-term contributor to the company's growth."

Genomic Health plans to invest up to $20 million in the new subsidiary over the next two years and has incorporated this into its 2012 financial outlook provided in its separate earnings release issued today.  The new venture will focus on commercial applications of the human genome and plans to leverage Genomic Health's research and development as well as third party R&D efforts.

"With our ability to leverage Genomic Health's established commercial infrastructure, clinical laboratory, research and development, and information technology platform, we believe we are uniquely positioned to lead the translation of individual genomic sequencing into real world medical practice by making this investment to expand our business," said Kim Popovits, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "Randy has the vision and entrepreneurial track record to lead this exciting new endeavor as we continue our mission to deliver future growth and better outcomes for physicians, patients and payers through Genomic Health."