ZyGEM Strengthens Senior Management Team With New Appointments

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ZyGEM Corp. Ltd., a developer and marketer of innovative products for the analysis of DNA and other nucleic acids, today announced that Gary Levine has been appointed Chief Financial Officer.  ZyGEM also announced that Jeffrey A. Hickey has joined the company as Director of Reagents Development for Forensics.  

In collaboration with Lockheed Martin, ZyGEM is developing an innovative Rapid DNA analysis system, which is in the pre-production integration and validation phase.  ZyGEM also develops and markets proprietary technologies for the extraction of DNA and RNA from diverse samples using thermophilic enzymes.  The unique properties of the company's prepGEM®, forensicGEM®, livestockGEM® and RNAGEM® families of nucleic acid extraction kits make possible cost effective and flexible solutions for researchers performing a wide variety of life sciences and biomedical studies, including human genotyping, animal testing and basic research.  

"We are delighted to welcome Gary and Jeff to the ZyGEM team at an especially exciting time for the company," said Paul Kinnon, CEO of ZyGEM.  "Gary's strong financial and strategic background will be invaluable as we continue to grow the company and expand the scope of our activities.  Jeff's extensive expertise in DNA forensics will make him a key contributor both to our growing sample preparation reagent business and to our accelerating efforts to begin commercializing the Rapid DNA platform we are developing with Lockheed Martin in the coming year."

Prior to joining ZyGEM, Mr. Levine served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Bostwick Laboratories, a clinical pathology laboratory services company.  There, he was responsible for setting and driving business strategy, as well as directing the company's financial infrastructure.  During his tenure, Mr. Levine prepared Bostwick Laboratories for an IPO, and helped significantly increase revenues and double profit margins.  Earlier, Mr. Levine served as a senior financial executive with Pfizer, Medco Health Solutions and Nabisco.  While at Medco, Mr. Levine was responsible for managing revenue, operating and capital budgets.  Additionally, he helped manage Medco's Electronic Prescribing initiative and worked with the federal government's Task Force for Health Information Technology to develop national standards for electronic prescribing.  Mr. Levine began his career at Price Waterhouse Coopers.   He received an MBA and a BA in accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University.  Mr. Levine is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant.

Mr. Hickey has over 15 years of experience overseeing DNA and RNA analysis and developing nucleic acid analysis methods.  Most recently, he managed DNA casework for the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System.  Earlier, he served as a Supervisory DNA Analyst at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory.  In this role, Mr. Hickey improved turnaround time for urgent DNA cases by developing and validating a faster DNA extraction method for certain samples.  Previously, Mr. Hickey was a Senior Forensic Analyst at the National Institute of Justice, Investigative and Forensic Sciences Division.  Earlier in his career, at Orchid Cellmark and Cellmark Diagnostics, Mr. Hickey helped to develop and validate real-time PCR methods for the simultaneous quantification of male and total genomic DNA.  Mr. Hickey received an MS in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University and a BS in biology from Loyola University.  He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

To learn more about ZyGEM's products, visit Booth 213 at the 22nd International Symposium on Human Identification being held October 3-6, 2011 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD.  See http://www.ishi22.com/ for more information.

About ZyGEM

ZyGEM Corporation markets nucleic acid extraction solutions based on the company's exclusive collection of microorganisms from extreme environments, with applications in basic research, forensics, clinical diagnostics and agriculture.  ZyGEM's MicroLab unit is developing integrated sample-to-answer systems with the potential to revolutionize DNA testing.  For more information about ZyGEM and its prepGEM®, forensicGEM®, livestockGEM® and RNAGEM® nucleic acid extraction kits, visit www.zygem.com.

SOURCE ZyGEM Corp. Ltd.