Jan 22, 2020   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Zymergen Appoints Jay Flatley and Sandra E. Peterson to the Board of Directors

Zymergen, a science and material innovation company, today announced that it has appointed Jay Flatley, Chairman of the Board of Illumina, and Sandra E. Peterson, former Group Worldwide Chairman for Johnson & Johnson, to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Flatley will serve as Lead Independent Director.

“Jay and Sandra are among the most respected leaders in the industry and I am thrilled to welcome them to the Board,” said Joshua Hoffman, Zymergen co-founder and CEO. “I know their counsel will be incredibly valuable as we continue to scale the business and build our growing pipeline of next-generation products.”

“For the last hundred years, industries have largely relied on petroleum-based manufacturing. By using biology to produce never-before imagined products and materials, Zymergen is ushering in the next wave of innovation,” said Mr. Flatley. “I’m thrilled to join the Board and eager to support the company’s mission.”

Mr. Flatley led Illumina as CEO from 1999 until 2016, as Executive Chairman through 2019 and now serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors. During his tenure as CEO, he took the company from $1.3 million in sales in 2000 to $2.2 billion in 2015, representing a compound annual growth rate of 64 percent. He oversaw the company’s expansion from microarrays into next-generation sequencing with the acquisition of Solexa in 2006, and from research into clinical and applied markets. In addition to his work at Illumina, he serves on the Board of Directors at Coherent and Denali, is Chairman of the Board at Iridia and the Wellcome Trust Leap Fund, and is on the Board of Trustees for The Salk Institute.

Ms. Peterson added: “Biological innovation is unlocking incredible opportunities across multiple sectors. The market opportunity for Zymergen is enormous and I’m delighted to serve on the company’s Board during this exciting phase of growth.”

Ms. Peterson currently serves as an operating partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), a private investment firm. Prior to joining CD&R in 2019, Ms. Peterson served as Group Worldwide Chairman for Johnson & Johnson, where she led the consumer and medical devices businesses and was responsible for the corporation’s global supply chain, as well as its technology strategy and infrastructure. Previously, Ms. Peterson served as CEO of Bayer CropScience AG, CEO of Bayer Medical Care, and president of Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care. She started her career at McKinsey and has held executive positions at Medco Health Solutions (formerly known as Merck-Medco), Nabisco, and Whirlpool. Ms. Peterson is a member of the Microsoft Board of Directors and serves as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Volastra, a life sciences platform company. She is also on the board of trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study, the world-renowned center for science and humanities research.

About Zymergen

Zymergen is a science and material innovation company rethinking biology and reimagining the world. A World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, Zymergen partners with nature to create never-before imagined materials and products across industries – from agriculture to consumer electronics, personal care to pharmaceuticals, and more. The company’s materials are in use today, creating value for Fortune 1000 companies and major corporations across the globe. Its clients have sold over $1 billion worth of products using Zymergen microbial strains. For more information visit: https://www.zymergen.com.