Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2004
Exeter Life Sciences Establishes Biotech IP Licensing and Investment Division
Scott Davis, Ph.D., to Serve as President of New Unit; Sara Davis, Ph.D. to Become President of ViaGen, Inc.
Phoenix, Arizona — Exeter Life Sciences today announced that it is forming a new division to handle licensing, intellectual property and investment in biotechnology projects. Late last year, Exeter bought the patent on the technology used to clone the world’s first sheep, Dolly, from PPL Therapeutics. The company is actively looking for other important intellectual property in plant and animal biotechnology. Exeter’s other biotech holdings include ViaGen, Inc., a leading animal genomics and livestock cloning firm, and Arcadia BioSciences, a plant biotech company focused on using new technologies to find solutions to environmental problems. Scott Davis, Ph.D., formerly President of Exeter subsidiary ViaGen, Inc, will head up the new unit. In this role, Davis will oversee Exeter’s intellectual property investment and licensing strategy.
“Exeter is becoming a clearinghouse for leading significant intellectual property,” said CEO Jonathan Thatcher. “We needed a scientist of Scott’s stature to make decisions about the most promising investments and partners.”
Before founding ViaGen and a previous company, GenomicsFX, Scott was the chair of the genetics faculty at Texas A&M University, where he was also a professor for twelve years. While at Texas A&M, he authored over one hundred scientific publications, trained forty-five M.S. and Ph.D. students and received over four million dollars in grant funding. He received the Chancellor’s award for excellence in research and the Faculty of Genetics award for excellence in teaching. Dr. Davis received his Ph.D. in Population Genetics from Washington University and his B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Baylor University.
Sara Davis will become President of ViaGen, Inc. Sara is a co-founder of ViaGen and is currently Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Irina Polejaeva has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Research and Development and will assume oversight of the scientific program. With over ten years research experience in comparative genomics, Sara has focused her work on cattle, swine and shrimp. She was Vice President for Bioinformatics and co-founder of GenomicFX, where she led strategic development for the swine genomics program. Sara spent two years as an associate professor of Animal Science and Genetics at Texas A&M University and two years as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois. She was also a research scientist for the Human Genome Project’s Cooperative Human Linkage Center and at the USDA’s Meat Animal Research Center. She received her Ph.D. in Genetics from Texas A&M University and her B.S. in Agricultural Business and Animal Science from Iowa State University.
About ViaGen ViaGen provides state-of-the-art advanced breeding services powered by genomics to all sectors of the $240 billion livestock, aquaculture and companion animal industry. Unmatched genomic capabilities allow ViaGen to identify economically important genetic traits in virtually any animal species, information that is paired with ViaGen’s expertise in advanced reproductive technologies to obtain revenue enhancing improvements in quality, yield, safety and brand integrity.
About Arcadia BioSciences Arcadia Biosciences identifies and develops biotechnologies that create valuable economic opportunities while responsibly addressing the negative effects of agriculture on the environment. Arcadia’s core technologies solve crucial problems of plant stress, efficient nutrient use, crop protection, and harvest quality.
About Exeter Life Sciences Exeter Life Sciences is a world leader in innovative health and life-sciences products and services that improve the lives of people, animals and the environment.
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