Eric Zwisler was most recently Chair of Cardinal Health China and CEO of its multi-billion dollar Chinese operations which he founded in 1994Toronto, OntarioJune 13, 2018SQI Diagnostics Inc. (“SQI Diagnostics” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: SQD; OTCQB: SQIDF),
a life sciences and diagnostics company that develops and commercializes proprietary technologies and products for advanced microarray diagnostics (“SQI”), is pleased to announce the appointment of global healthcare executive Eric Zwisler, to its Board of Directors.
Said SQI’s Chair, Clive Beddoe: “to have someone of Eric Zwisler’s caliber on the SQI Board is an endorsement of the technical and commercial success of SQI and marks a turning point in the growth and leadership of the company, from a research-driven North American enterprise to a revenue-driven commercial enterprise. His appointment sends a signal from the international healthcare community that SQI has the technology, the track record and the momentum to achieve significant adoption with both Big Pharma and Big Diagnostics customers.”
Said Mr. Zwisler: “SQI has an impressive history of diagnostic technology development and a strong management team. At this important time in SQI’s development and commercialization, I’m looking forward to working with the board and management to further drive SQI’s business forward.”
Eric Zwisler has been a senior executive in the healthcare business for over 30 years. Most recently he was Chairman of Cardinal Health China, a subsidiary of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH), a US Fortune-15 healthcare company. In addition to his role at Cardinal Health, for the last several years Eric has also been active in healthcare investments, other board roles and education. He spent many of the last 30 years in Asia, particularly China where he won major awards from the Chinese government for his business acumen and commitment to the development of the healthcare industry in the world’s fastest-growing market. Last year, he played a key role in the sale of Cardinal Health China to a local company for $1.2 billion and participated in the deal process by leading a management buy-out proposal.
Mr. Zwisler is an internationalist who has worked extensively with businesses and investors from the United States, Europe, Japan and South America. He is a proven leader of large organizations and is operationally adept in strategic, operational, commercial and financial matters. He also has extensive board experience in healthcare services, immunology research and development, and is well-versed in capital structure issues and strategy, financial controls and management, as well as compliance matters.
In addition, Mr. Zwisler is a Director of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, one of the world’s top-five biomedical research institutes focussed on understanding the immune response to infectious agents and cancers. And, for 12 years he was a board member of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (IFPW), the international trade organization of pharmaceutical distributors, serving as Chair of that body from 2012 to 2014.
He is a keen China observer and a frequent commentator on political, economic and healthcare industry trends.
As compensation for his role on the Board, Mr. Zwisler has been granted 700,000 stock options. The grant is effective June 11, 2018 and the options have an exercise price of $0.18. Pursuant to the Company’s stock option plan, these options have a term of five years and vest over a three-year period.
About SQI Diagnostics
SQI Diagnostics is a life sciences and diagnostics company that develops and commercializes proprietary technologies and products for advanced microarray diagnostics. The Company’s proprietary microarray tests and fully-automated systems are designed to simplify protein and antibody testing workflow, increase throughput, reduce costs and provide excellent data quality. For more information, please visit www.sqidiagnostics.com.
Investor Relations Contacts:
Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Morris
416.674.9500 ext. 229
amorris@sqidiagnostics.com
Vice President, Finance and Administration
Patricia Lie
416.674.9500 ext. 277
plie@sqidiagnostics.com
Forward-looking Information
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words “will”, “expects”, “intends” and other similar expressions which constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s current expectation and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to risks related to the failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals, general economic and market segment conditions, and international risk and currency exchange, agreements and future agreements to sell our products, the success of our Diagnostic Tools and Services business and our intent to build near-term revenue streams from this business, the successful regulatory filing and receipt of regulatory approvals for our later stage quantitative diagnostic kits, the acceleration of our revenue ramp, general economic and market segment conditions, competitor activity, technology changes and regulatory approvals. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company’s ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
