Pacific Biosciences Welcomes Neil Ward to Its Leadership Team as Vice President and General Manager for Europe, Middle East, and Africa

MENLO PARK, Calif., June 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (Nasdaq: PACB), a leading provider of high-quality, long-read sequencing platforms, today welcomed Neil Ward to the new role of Vice President and General Manager for the company’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region to expand and develop the team and infrastructure to capitalize on the immense potential for genomics in this area of the world.

Neil is a genomics industry veteran with more than two decades of global experience. He most recently served as Senior Sales Director for Northern Europe at Illumina. In his various commercial roles, Neil has served as a key contributor in many of the world’s largest genomics projects including Genomics England’s 100,000 Genome Project, the Estonian Genome Project, and the whole genome sequencing of the 500,000 UK Biobank samples. Prior to his 13 years at Illumina, Neil held bioinformatics and sales roles at leading institutions, including Agilent, Silicon Genetics, Oxford Biomedica and Celltech.

“We could not be more thrilled to have Neil join us. His deep experience and relationships across the genomics ecosystem, as well as his demonstrable passion for the role genomics can play to better human health will be invaluable to lead our expansion strategies in EMEA,” shared Peter Fromen, Chief Commercial Officer at PacBio.

“I’m grateful and excited for the opportunity to be part of this exceptional team working to improve the health of the planet through genomics. PacBio is at an inflection point and we're just beginning to realize the potential that HiFi data can have on our understanding of genomics,” said Neil Ward, Vice President and General Manager of EMEA at PacBio. “As we look forward to the next decade, I believe this team will help accelerate the utility of genomics through new applications and insights uncovered by SMRT Sequencing technology.”

The genomics landscape has grown considerably over the past decade, and there are more labs than ever performing sequencing. After years of investment and product development, industry experts recognize PacBio as a leader in accurate and complete long-read sequencing. The company’s innovative instruments are based on Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) Sequencing technology, which delivers a comprehensive view of genomes, transcriptomes, and epigenomes, enabling access to a wide spectrum of genetic variation in any organism.

Cited in thousands of peer-reviewed publications, PacBio sequencing systems are in use by scientists around the world to drive discovery in human biomedical research, plant and animal sciences, and microbiology. More customers than ever can now benefit from incorporating PacBio® sequencing into their labs. To capture this opportunity, we are dramatically increasing the number of quota-carrying sales representatives - aiming to at least double the team we had at the end of 2020. Further, we are expanding and realigning our global commercial infrastructure to support sustained long-term growth.

About Pacific Biosciences
Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ: PACB) is empowering life scientists with highly accurate long-read sequencing. The company’s innovative instruments are based on Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) Sequencing technology, which delivers a comprehensive view of genomes, transcriptomes, and epigenomes, enabling access to the full spectrum of genetic variation in any organism. Cited in thousands of peer-reviewed publications, PacBio® sequencing systems are in use by scientists around the world to drive discovery in human biomedical research, plant and animal sciences, and microbiology. For more information, please visit www.pacb.com and follow @PacBio.

PacBio products are provided for Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the potential for genomics in the EMEA, the role genomics can play to better human health, the potential of HiFi data, the applications, insights, and attributes of SMRT sequencing technology, the benefits of PacBio sequencing, the Company’s anticipated growth and commercialization efforts, including headcount increases in sales and marketing, the Company’s long-term growth prospects, strategic priorities and direction, and other future events. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and any such forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the following cautionary statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on current expectations and involve a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Readers are strongly encouraged to read the full cautionary statements contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks set forth in the company’s Forms 8-K, 10-K, and 10-Q. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Contacts

Investors:
Todd Friedman
+1 (650) 521-8450
ir@pacificbiosciences.com

Media:
Jen Carroll
+1 (858) 449-8082
pr@pacificbiosciences.com