LEXINGTON, Mass., June 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- T2 Biosystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTOO), a leader in the rapid detection of sepsis-causing pathogens, today announced three new Board of Director appointments. The three new directors will add significant clinical and commercialization experience and expand board diversity, coupled with a strong understanding of the Company’s customer base.

The new appointments include: Thierry Bernard, Chief Executive Officer, QIAGEN; Dr. Ninfa Saunders, President and Chief Executive Officer, Navicent Health; and Robin Toft, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Toft Group, a ZRG company.

“We are thrilled to add to our Board three individuals whose commercial expertise and combined background in molecular diagnostics, clinical care, and life science leadership will bring invaluable perspective and insight to our business, helping us to achieve our goals of accelerating our sales, improving our operations, and advancing our pipeline,” said John Sperzel, President and Chief Executive Officer, T2 Biosystems. “Our commitment to developing innovative technology that helps save lives and improve patient outcomes remains steadfast, and adding these three industry leaders will bolster our efforts to accomplish that in the coming months and years.”

Thierry Bernard is the CEO at QIAGEN. Mr. Bernard joined QIAGEN in February 2015 to lead QIAGEN’s growing presence in molecular diagnostics.  Mr. Bernard previously held multiple roles at bioMerieux for fifteen years, most recently as Corporate Vice President, Global Commercial Operations, Investor Relations and the Greater China Region. Prior to joining bioMerieux, he served in management roles in multiple international environments. Mr. Bernard is a member of the Board of Directors of First Light Biosciences. He has earned degrees from Sciences Po (Paris), Harvard Business School, London School of Economics and the College of Europe, and is a member of French Foreign Trade Advisors.

Dr. Ninfa M. Saunders, FACHE, is the President and CEO of Navicent Health, the second largest hospital in Georgia and a tertiary regional teaching medical center. Dr. Saunders has more than 45 years of hospital administrative and clinical experience, and prior to her current role, served as the President and COO of Virtua Health, the largest health system in southern New Jersey. Dr. Saunders was recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of 2019’s Top 25 Women Leaders in the U.S. and was twice named one of the “Most Influential Women of the Mid-Market” in the U.S. by CEO Corporation. Dr. Saunders serves on the boards of the Georgia Hospital Association and the American Hospital Association, where she is the past chair for the Institute for Diversity. Dr. Saunders completed her Doctorate in Healthcare Administration at the Medical University of South Carolina, earned a Master’s of Business Administration from Emory University, and a Master of Science in Nursing from Rutgers University.

Robin Toft is the founder and CEO of Toft Group, a ZRG company, where she combines a deep inside knowledge of the life science industry with a passion for building game-changing management teams. Ms. Toft has placed hundreds of executives at innovation-led life science companies. A champion of diverse executive teams, she has built a reputation for recruiting women and minorities into C-level and board of director roles. Prior to founding Toft Group in 2010, Ms. Toft served 20+ years as a biotech executive, most recently as Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations at Roche Molecular Diagnostics. In the 2020 American Business Awards, Ms. Toft received three Gold awards for Lifetime Achievement, Maverick of the Year and Woman of the Year.  She currently serves on The Clearity Foundation board for ovarian cancer care, and is Chairman of LEAD San Diego, dedicated to developing civically engaged leaders. Ms. Toft earned a Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University.

Along with these additions, the Company announced the departure of three long-standing board members: Michael Cima, Ph.D., Adrian M. Jones, and Stanley Lapidus.

“We are profoundly grateful for the passion, ingenuity and leadership exhibited by the departing board members over the past several years,” said John McDonough, Chairman of the Board of Directors, T2 Biosystems. “Their collective contributions have made a significant and lasting impact on the Company, for which we will remain forever grateful.”

The new board members will join the following existing board members:

• John Sperzel, President and CEO, T2 Biosystems
• John McDonough, Chairman of the Board, T2 Biosystems
• John W. Cumming, Former Chairman and CEO, Hologic
• David Elsbree, Former Senior Partner, Deloitte & Touche
• Seymour Liebman, Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Canon U.S.A, Inc.; Senior Managing Executive Officer of Canon Inc., Japan; and Vice Chairman, Canon Solutions America, Inc.

About T2 Biosystems
T2 Biosystems, a leader in the rapid detection of sepsis-causing pathogens, is dedicated to improving patient care and reducing the cost of care by helping clinicians effectively treat patients faster than ever before. T2 Biosystems’ products include the T2Dx^® Instrument, T2Candida^® Panel, the T2Bacteria^® Panel, and the T2Resistance™ Panel and are powered by the proprietary T2 Magnetic Resonance (T2MR^®) technology. T2 Biosystems has an active pipeline of future products, including the T2Cauris™ Panel, T2SARS-CoV-2™ Panel, and T2Lyme™ Panel, as well as additional products for the detection of bacterial and fungal pathogens and associated antimicrobial resistance markers, as well as biothreat pathogens.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding growth in the Company’s sales, improvement in operations, and pipeline advancement, as well as statements that include the words “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “project,” “forecast,” “estimate,” “may,” “should,” “anticipate,” and similar statements of a future or forward looking nature. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, (i) any inability to (a) realize anticipated benefits from commitments, contracts or products; (b) successfully execute strategic priorities; (c) bring products to market; (d) expand product usage or adoption; (e) obtain customer testimonials;  (f) accurately predict growth assumptions; (g) realize anticipated revenues; (h) incur expected levels of operating expenses; or (i) increase the number of high-risk patients at customer facilities; (ii) failure of early data to predict eventual outcomes; (iii) failure to make or obtain anticipated FDA filings or clearances within expected time frames or at all; or (iv) the factors discussed under Item 1A. "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and other filings the Company makes with the SEC from time to time.  These and other important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While the Company may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, unless required by law, it disclaims any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause its views to change. Thus, no one should assume that the Company’s silence over time means that actual events are bearing out as expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Media Contact:
Gina Kent, Vault Communications
gkent@vaultcommunications.com  
610-455-2763

Investor Contact:
Philip Trip Taylor, Gilmartin Group
philip@gilmartinIR.com
415-937-5406