Shaywitz tapped as first CMO of DNAnexus

DNA software company DNAnexus has appointed Dr. David Shaywitz chief medical officer, effective Aug. 4.

Shaywitz, 46, is the firm's first CMO. He will oversee the adoption and clinical mechanics of DNAnexus' cloud-based genomics platform, the nucleus of the company's operations.

Shaywitz previously was a senior director of strategic and commercial planning for Theravance Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company based in San Francisco. His medical background is in internal medicine and endocrinology.

“I'm excited—and feel inordinately privileged—to join the DNAnexus team,” Shaywitz wrote in a blog post, “and to work with passionate colleagues from throughout the healthcare system, in both the private and the public sector, and explore together how we can move from genome to value, from data to impact, from information to cure.”

DNAnexus, based in Mountain View, Calif., works with biotech and pharmaceutical research labs, diagnostic testing providers and other clinical groups. TPG and Google's venture capital arm, Google Ventures, are among DNAnexus' largest backers.

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