Cepheid Appoints Vice President of Infectious Disease Research & Development

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD) today announced that Robert Kwiatkowski, Ph. D., has joined the company as Vice President of Infectious Disease Research and Development, reporting to David Persing, M.D., Ph.D.

"Cepheid already offers an impressive menu of eleven highly regarded Xpert® tests for our GeneXpert® system, but we are working aggressively to extend our leadership with next-generation products, including a number that employ extensive multiplexing capability for panel-based tests, in addition to providing further test menu consolidation with CT/NG, HIV, HPV and HCV," said Dr. Persing, Cepheid's Chief Medical and Technology Officer.  "With his wide-ranging experience in the management of infectious disease test development, Bob is an exciting addition to a talented scientific team working to develop tests for the most powerful molecular platform available today."

Dr. Kwiatkowski brings to Cepheid almost two decades of experience in nucleic acid infectious disease test development and management, including tests for HPV, HIV and HCV.  Prior to joining Cepheid, Dr. Kwiatkowski was most recently responsible for managing infectious disease test development in support of multiple automated platforms at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.  Dr. Kwiatkowski has previously held positions at Gentra Systems, acquired by Qiagen in 2006, Third Wave Technologies, Becton Dickinson Molecular Diagnostics and Digene Diagnostics.  Dr. Kwiatkowski earned his Ph. D. at the John Hopkins University.

About Cepheid

Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD) is a leading molecular diagnostics company that is dedicated to improving healthcare by developing, manufacturing, and marketing accurate yet easy to use molecular systems and tests. By automating highly complex and time-consuming manual procedures, the company's solutions deliver a better way for institutions of any size to access the full power of molecular diagnostics. The company's systems enable rapid, sophisticated genetic testing for organisms and genetic-based diseases by automating otherwise complex manual laboratory procedures. Through its strong molecular biology capabilities, the company is focusing on those applications where accurate, rapid, and actionable test results are needed most, such as managing infectious diseases and cancer. For more information, visit www.cepheid.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are not purely historical regarding Cepheid's or its management's intentions, beliefs, expectations and strategies for the future, including those relating to product functionality and performance, future products and future market opportunities. Because such statements deal with future events, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from the company's current expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include risks and uncertainties such as those relating to: unforeseen development and manufacturing problems; uncertainties in the regulatory review process for new products; regulatory developments and practices regarding testing; customer and market acceptance of the product; the failure of the product to perform as expected, whether due to manufacturing errors, defects or otherwise; the impact of competitive products and pricing; potentially lengthy sales cycles in some markets; reimbursement rates for products; and underlying market conditions worldwide. Readers should also refer to the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Cepheid's Annual Report on Form 10-K and in its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, each filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

All forward-looking statements and reasons why results might differ included in this release are made as of the date of this press release, based on information currently available to Cepheid, and Cepheid assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement or reasons why results might differ.

SOURCE Cepheid