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Chicago, Illinois
January 7, 2003
Chromatin, Inc.
today announced that its
Board of Directors has appointed Dr. Mich Hein as President and
CEO effective January 1, 2003. Prior to assuming his position
with Chromatin, Dr. Hein founded Epicyte Pharmaceuticals (San
Diego, California) where he served as Director and President for
six years.
"The Board and Founders of
Chromatin are extremely pleased to have attracted someone of
Mich's caliber to lead the development of Chromatin's exciting
mini-chromosome technology," said Roger Wyse, Chairman of the
Board of Chromatin. "Mich brings a unique combination of
scientific knowledge, experience in leading a start up company,
understanding of the market dynamics at the interface of
agriculture, pharmaceuticals and industrial biotechnology as
well as fundraising acumen. His track record in commercializing
plant biotechnology is outstanding," added Wyse.
Dr. Hein brings to Chromatin
extensive business and relevant scientific experience as well as
considerable scientific expertise in analytical chemistry, plant
molecular biology, and immunology. At Epicyte, he managed the
company's strategic business development, government relations
and key commercial alliances, including relationships with the
Dow Chemical Company and DowAgroSciences, Biovation, and the
Centocor division of J&J. Dr. Hein also directed Epicyte's
research and development programs funded through DARPA,
USAMRIID, and the NIH.
Dr. Hein began his career as
a research chemist at Monsanto, and subsequently managed the
plant molecular biology research effort for PPG Industries in La
Jolla, CA. He left PPG to join the faculty of the Departments
of Cell Biology and Molecular Biology at The Scripps Research
Institute. In addition to his business experience, he is a
pioneer in the
development of plants for production of antibodies, vaccine
subunits and other high value proteins -- an area in which he is
an inventor on numerous patents.
Chromatin, Inc. is headquartered in
Chicago, IL and was founded in 2000, based on technology
developed in the laboratory of Dr. Daphne Preuss and her
colleagues at the University of Chicago. Chromatin's
mini-chromosome technology is designed to significantly
accelerate the pace of crop improvement, enabling the rapid
delivery of large numbers of genes. The company's suite of
intellectual property enables the development of crops with
improved genetics to enhance nutritional value, and food safety,
and can accelerate the discovery and development of affordable
pharmaceuticals and production of industrial and consumer
products. |
