LexaGene Holdings, Inc., (TSX-V: LXG; OTCQB: LXXGF) (the
“
Company”), a molecular diagnostics company that
develops fully automated rapid pathogen detection systems, is
pleased to announce the hiring of four additional sales
representatives, including three for the veterinary market and one
for the contract drug manufacturing market.
Dr. Jack Regan, LexaGene’s CEO and Founder states, “We are
excited to have recruited very talented and experienced sales
representatives from some of the biggest names in veterinary
healthcare. Our new sales representatives have universally
expressed optimism about selling LexaGene’s technology into
veterinary hospitals, and the same is true for our sales
representative targeting contract drug manufacturing organizations.
Our rapidly growing sales team is now undergoing LexaGene specific
training and will soon be offering incentives for early adopters so
we can quickly expand our installation base.”
Dr. Regan continues, “We are focusing on the veterinary market
as we see it as a largely untapped market. There are 77M dogs and
58M cats in the United States,1 and many pet owners spare no
expense on caring for their animal companions. The overall size of
the veterinary diagnostics market is expected to soon reach $4B and
is growing at a compound annual growth rate “CAGR” of 8.8%.2
Currently, there are 18,600 private practice veterinary clinics
that see enough animals per day to be target customers for
LexaGene.3,4”
Feedback from key opinion leaders has boosted the Company’s
confidence that the MiQLab™ system will become a powerful tool for
veterinarians interested in rapid in-clinic diagnostics to improve
patient care. The MiQLab represents a change in business model for
veterinarians who currently rely on reference laboratories for
infectious disease testing. Instead of shipping samples out and
waiting days for results, the MiQLab generates results, inside the
clinic, soon after the patient sample has been collected. This
drastic improvement in time-to-result, particularly when antibiotic
resistant superbugs are detected, is expected to improve
prescription practices and lead to better patient
outcomes.
Jeff Mitchell, LexaGene’s CFO, adds, “We are anticipating strong
demand in veterinary diagnostics and have strategically hired
additional sales managers to more effectively cover the United
States. Although new technology adoption does take time, we are
very optimistic that a significant percentage of the targeted
practices will soon become LexaGene customers. While searching for
additional sales managers, we were excited and gratified to see the
amount of interest from many seasoned sales professionals working
for the largest animal health companies in the United States.”
From a very talented pool of candidates, the Company has hired
the following sales managers for veterinary diagnostics sales and
open-access sales:
- Julie Griggs is LexaGene’s West Regional Sales Manager. She has
18 years of experience in companion animal health and comes to
LexaGene from Antech Diagnostics. Previously, she worked for
Covetrus, Zoetis, Banfield, Village Animal Clinic, and Sunburst
Animal Clinic. Julie is a Certified Veterinary
Technician.
- Kara Alkire is LexaGene’s Southeast Regional Sales
Manager. She has 15 years of sales experience in companion animal
health and comes to LexaGene from Bayer Animal Health / Elanco.
Previously, she worked at Heska selling companion animal health
products. Kara has a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a Minor in
Chemistry from the College of Charleston, SC.
- Whitney Fernandes is LexaGene’s Northeast Regional Sales
Manager. She has 8 years of sales experience in companion animal
health and equine. She comes to LexaGene from American Regent
Animal Health and previously worked at Smartpak Equine. Whitney is
a certified pharmacy technician and has a Bachelor of Science in
Business Management from the University of
Massachusetts.
- Chris Bartlett is LexaGene’s Open-Access Sales Manager. He has
20 years of experience specializing in the sale of capital
equipment technologies for laboratory, diagnostic, and single use
bioprocessing applications. Chris comes to LexaGene from Refine
Technology and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology
from North Carolina State University.
These highly talented sales managers join Sarah Mumbower,
LexaGene’s Midwest Regional Sales Manager. Sarah has 5 years’
experience in companion animal health and came to LexaGene in 2020
from IDEXX. She is a Certified Veterinary Technician.
In addition, LexaGene is announcing that on May 11, 2021, the
board of directors approved inducement grants in accordance with
the Company’s Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) for
independent, non-executive directors totaling 396,000 restricted
share units (“RSUs”) and 396,000 share
options (“Options”). The sum covers an initial grant for
LexaGene’s newest board member who joined in February, as well as
annual grants for the other three independent non-executive
directors.
Each Option is exercisable into one common share of the
Company (“Share”) at a price of CAD$0.66 per Share, for a
period of ten years from the date of grant. The CAD$0.66 per
share was 120% above the close price of the Company’s stock on the
TSX Venture Exchange on May 10, 2021. The Options vest 10% on
the grant date, and 15% every six months thereafter with an expiry
date of May 11, 2031.
The RSUs start vesting on May 11, 2023, in equal
10% increments on the 11th day of each month thereafter
expiring on February 11, 2024.
To be added to the LexaGene email list, please subscribe on the
Company website.
On Behalf of the Board of DirectorsDr.
Jack ReganChief Executive Officer &
Chairman
About LexaGene Holdings Inc.LexaGene is a
molecular diagnostics company that develops molecular diagnostic
systems for pathogen detection and genetic testing for other
molecular markers for on-site rapid testing in veterinary
diagnostics, food safety and for use in open-access markets such as
clinical research, agricultural testing and biodefense. End-users
simply need to collect a sample, load it onto the instrument with a
sample preparation cartridge, enter sample ID and press ‘go’. The
MiQLab™ system delivers excellent sensitivity, specificity, and
breadth of detection and can return results in approximately two
hours. The unique open-access feature is designed for custom
testing so that end-users can load their own real-time PCR assays
onto the instrument to target any genetic target of interest.
The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way
passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither
approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
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.
This news release contains forward-looking information, which
involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
that may cause actual events to differ materially from current
expectation. Important factors -- including the availability of
funds, the results of financing efforts, the success of technology
development efforts, the cost to procure critical parts,
performance of the instrument, market acceptance of the technology,
regulatory acceptance, and licensing issues -- that could cause
actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations
as disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on
SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims
any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law,
to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
________________________
1
https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/reports-statistics/us-pet-ownership-statistics2
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/veterinary-diagnostics-market-26017452.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2duon7Oy7AIVohx9Ch0vAAHoEAAYASAAEgLbwPD_BwE3
U.S. Department of Labor, Census Bureau 20184
https://www.avma.org/sites/default/files/resources/2018-econ-rpt3-veterinary-services.pdf
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