Akoya Biosciences Appoints Pascal Bamford, PhD, as SVP, R&D and Laboratory Operations

Accomplished leader in laboratory innovations and diagnostics

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., Oct. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Akoya Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKYA) (“Akoya”), The Spatial Biology Company^®, today announced the appointment of Pascal Bamford, PhD, as Senior Vice President, Research and Development and Laboratory Operations. Dr. Bamford will be instrumental in accelerating the innovation of ground-breaking spatial biology solutions and the scaling of Akoya’s Advanced Biopharma Services (ABS) offering.

Dr. Bamford joins Akoya with deep scientific and operational experience, leading teams in developing and implementing successful and innovative products and shepherding them through international regulatory agencies to reach customers and patients worldwide. His experience includes developing commercial Research-Use Only (RUO) tools, In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD), and clinical Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs).

“We are delighted to welcome Pascal to the leadership team of Akoya Biosciences,” said Brian McKelligon, CEO of Akoya Biosciences. “Dr. Bamford brings multidisciplinary expertise in platform development, operational excellence and clinical markets. He has a formidable and established track record in solving some of the most complex challenges in laboratory medicine, transforming innovation into scalable platforms with significant clinical impact.”

“There remains so much potential for spatial biology to power new scientific discoveries and help physicians and their patients make the best therapeutic decisions in the near future,” said Dr. Bamford. “Akoya is a leader in the field and is uniquely positioned to enable and accelerate those outcomes. I have admired the team for a long time and it is a privilege to have the opportunity to finally work alongside them.”

Most recently, as Senior Vice President of Products and Services Research and Development at Exact Sciences, Dr. Bamford had a major role in driving the growth of the company’s genomic clinical testing business. While at Exact Sciences, he led all aspects of product development for the precision oncology division across LDT and international IVD product offerings. 

Previously, Dr. Bamford served as Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Laboratory Operations at Epic Sciences, a diagnostic company using circulating tumor cells and immune markers for discovery and translational research as well as oncology therapeutic selection. At Epic, Dr. Bamford led the transition from an RUO pharmaceutical service company to a global clinical diagnostic company leveraging complex, system-based development incorporating reagents, cloud-based image analysis and machine learning algorithms, as well as custom staining and optical scanning hardware platforms and software. 

Prior to joining Epic, Dr. Bamford held senior leadership positions with Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., in Tucson, AZ and Sunnyvale, CA, where he managed software and advanced multiplex assay development and led the acquisition and integration of Ventana’s digital pathology business through the BioImagene acquisition. Dr. Bamford also worked as a Director for Imaging and Informatics at Monogen, a start-up developing cytological cancer screening automation with 510(k) and PMA clearances, which was sold to Hologic and is now part of that company’s Genius Digital Diagnostics system.

Dr. Bamford has a PhD in cell image analysis from the University of Queensland, Australia, and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Bristol, UK, and Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications, France.

About Akoya Biosciences

As The Spatial Biology Company^®, Akoya Biosciences’ mission is to bring context to the world of biology and human health through the power of spatial phenotyping. The company offers comprehensive single-cell imaging solutions that allow researchers to phenotype cells with spatial context and visualize how they organize and interact to influence disease progression and treatment response. Akoya offers two distinct solutions, the CODEX^® and Phenoptics™ platforms, to serve the diverse needs of researchers across discovery, translational and clinical research. To learn more about Akoya, visit www.akoyabio.com.

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Investor Contact:
Priyam Shah
Akoya Biosciences
investors@akoyabio.com

Media Contact:
Michelle Linn
Bioscribe, Inc.
774-696-3803
michelle@bioscribe.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/549340b7-620c-48ee-8624-e61cb5fe9d63