London, UK – 6th June 2018 – NetScientific plc (“NetScientific”, AIM:NSCI), the transatlantic healthcare IP commercialisation Group, announces that its portfolio company Vortex Biosciences has appointed Bob Englert as Chief Executive Officer.
Bob, who is currently Chief Technology Officer, takes up the position with immediate effect, replacing Gene Walther, who has been Chief Executive Officer of Vortex Biosciences since January 2016. Gene has resigned to pursue other interests and will be stepping down from his position as Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board.
Bob Englert, who has been Chief Technology Officer of Vortex since 2016, has over 25 years of global experience in medical devices and life sciences, with a particular focus on IVD, Point of Care, and digital health solutions. Before joining Vortex, he has served as CEO and Founder of Biomedtrics Inc., a diabetes data management company, where he raised funding and commercialized a mobile medical data device. Prior to that he was COO of Pelikan Technologies, a Point of Care glucose testing company. Earlier in his career, Bob held multiple senior roles at Abbott Laboratories. Bob has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Vortex has also appointed Steve Crouse, who has been Chief Commercial Officer since March 2016, to the position of Chief Operating Officer. Steve, who has significant experience in medical diagnostics, instruments development, and medical marketing, will work closely with Bob and the Board to drive R&D and commercialisation strategies. Steve was previously Senior VP of Sales and Marketing at Freeslate, a company focused on providing laboratory automation to Chemical and Pharmaceutical companies.
François R. Martelet, Chief Executive Officer of NetScientific and Chairman of Vortex Biosciences, commented: “Vortex is approaching a critical commercialisation phase with its unique CTC isolation technology, and Bob is in a unique position to drive this forward. With expertise gained from his role as Chief Technology Officer and underpinned by years of industry experience, particularly in the diagnostics field, we believe he is the right person to take Vortex through the next phase of its growth.
“I would also like to thank Gene Walther for his contribution to the Company during its formative years, and we wish Gene all the best for the future.”
Bob Englert, incoming Chief Executive Officer of Vortex Biosciences, said: “Vortex Biosciences has developed a CTC isolation and enrichment technology that is superior to other products and is positioned to fundamentally improve the capabilities of researchers and clinicians to identify cancer cells utilizing a non-invasive liquid biopsy sample. I look forward to continuing the impressive progress that the team at Vortex has made in bringing this product to market.”
# # #
For more information, please contact:
| NetScientific
François R. Martelet, M.D., CEO Ian Postlethwaite, CFO |
Tel: +44 (0)20 3514 1800 |
|
Consilium Strategic Communications Mary-Jane Elliott Jessica Hodgson / Chris Welsh / Laura Thornton
|
Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 5700 netscientific@consilium-comms.com |
| Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (NOMAD and Broker)
Jonathan Senior / David Arch / Ben Maddison |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7710 7600 |
About NetScientific
NetScientific is a transatlantic healthcare technology group with an investment strategy focused on sourcing, funding and commercialising technologies that significantly improve the health and well-being of people with chronic diseases. For more information, please visit the website at www.netscientific.net
About Vortex Biosciences
Vortex Biosciences is a leader in liquid biopsy solutions with a mission to revolutionize cancer diagnosis, monitoring and treatment by replacing tissue biopsies with simple blood tests. As a first step in achieving this mission, they have introduced the VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System. The VTX-1 instrument harvests intact circulating tumor cells from whole blood samples for use in downstream research and clinical applications such as patient stratification, monitoring disease progression and drug treatment effectiveness. Vortex is a core subsidiary of NetScientific plc, a transatlantic healthcare technology group with an investment strategy focused on sourcing, funding and commercializing technologies that significantly improve the health and well-being of people with chronic diseases. For more information, visit http://www.vortexbiosciences.com
