Mission Bio, the pioneer in high-throughput single-cell DNA and multi-omics analysis, today announced the appointment of Yan Zhang to the role of CEO. Zhang joins Mission Bio after 10 years at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where she drove above-market growth for multiple business lines, including leading the commercial organization in China for Genetic Sciences and Clinical Next-Generation Sequencing divisions and leading the Reproductive Health and Microarray businesses as General Manager. Zhang succeeds current Mission Bio CEO and co-founder Charlie Silver, who will be moving into an advisor role with the company.
“Having spent the last 10 years growing the genetic analysis businesses at a multi-billion dollar company, I’m excited by the tremendous potential in Mission Bio’s industry-first multi-omics capabilities – both to accelerate our understanding of cancer and to enable novel cell and gene therapy development with biopharma partners,” said Yan Zhang, CEO of Mission Bio. “We’re at the dawn of another incredible age of breakthroughs in improving human health. I am honored to lead the Mission Bio team in its next phase of hyper-growth and scale the company to meet its full potential.”
“Yan shares our vision for the power of single-cell multi-omics to improve patient outcomes for complex diseases like cancer,” said Charlie Silver, Mission Bio co-founder, and advisor. “She also brings a deep appreciation for the value in leading a world-class team that can execute with precision, humility, and humanity. Yan’s experience, vision, and proven track record are a great combination for leading Mission Bio into the future.”
Before joining Thermo Fisher Scientific, Zhang led product management and commercialization efforts for genetic analysis solutions at Affymetrix, NuGEN Technologies, and Molecular Devices. Zhang holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Medical College of Wisconsin and has dedicated her career to accelerating broad market access of emerging genomic technologies to advance translational research and clinical applications in precision medicine.
“Yan spent the last decade growing the genomics business for one of the world’s largest life sciences companies,” said Robert Ghenchev, Senior Partner and Head of Novo Growth and Mission Bio board member. “During that time, she demonstrated a consistent ability to successfully commercialize innovative new technologies — including clinical NGS products— into high growth markets. With its experienced team and exceptional technology, Mission Bio has reached the tipping point that all companies in this space hope to achieve,” added Ghenchev. “I can’t think of anyone better suited to take Mission Bio into the next phase of innovation and commercialization than Yan Zhang.”
Today’s announcement follows a number of recent developments for the company, including a $70 million Series C fundraise in the second half of 2020, growing use of its Tapestri Platform in peer-reviewed publications including Nature and Nature Communications, and new partnerships to expand the global distribution and adoption of its Tapestri Platform in high-growth market segments.
