Konica Minolta Precision Medicine, a new company division formed recently with the acquisitions of Ambry Genetics and Invicro, has named John E. Niederhuber, M.D., as the chairman of their Scientific Advisory Board.
Since 2010 Neiderhuber has been executive vice president and CEO of Inova Translational Medicine Institute (TMI) and was recently named President and CEO of the newly formed Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Institute (GBRI), a joint venture between Inova Health System and the University of Virginia. Previously he served as director of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health.
“We are fortunate to have Dr. Niederhuber, a leader in the global oncology space, to serve as Chairman of our Scientific Advisory board,” said Kiyotaka Fujii, president Global Healthcare, Konica Minolta in a press release. “Dr. Niederhuber’s vision and thought leadership will provide unique insights on how to position Konica Minolta’s high quality genomic capabilities, fuel our research and move us closer to the reality of precision medicine.”
Niederhuber, who has an extensive background in cancer care and research, will help Konica Minolta guide its research initiatives and collaborations. The company has been making significant investments in the precision medicine area over the past year. Last September, it acquired contract researcher organization (CRO) Invicro, which provides imaging services and software for pharmacetuical and biopharma companies from drug discovery through late-phase clinical trials. And in July 2017, it spent $1 billion to acquire genetic testing company Ambry Genetics.
“I am excited to take on this new role and leverage Konica Minolta’s experience and breadth of diagnostic technologies,” said Dr. Niederhuber. “The medical oncology space is rapidly evolving and synergistic technologies such as theirs are vital to better understand disease and improve patient outcomes.”
