Atossa Genetics recently announced that Christopher S. Destro has joined the company as its new Vice President of Sales and Marketing. An industry veteran with over 16 years of successful sales and client management expertise, Mr. Destro will oversee product marketing, distribution, and sales. He will report to Dr. Steven C. Quay, MD, PhD, FCAP, Chairman, CEO and President.
“[Atossa] is very fortunate to have Christopher Destro join us as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at this pivotal time,” remarked Dr. Quay. “As we accelerate the national roll-out of our ForeCYTE and ArgusCYTE Breast Health Tests in early 2013, Chris’ extensive industry experience and in-depth market and technical expertise will be invaluable in helping us achieve our ambitious growth objectives.”
From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Destro held multiple prominent positions, including Vice President of Sales, North America, for three divisions of Magellan Biosciences where he managed sales of automated blood culture and automated susceptibility instrumentation for Trek Diagnostics, automated immunochemistry for Dynex, and a lead care platform for Point of Care testing. In July 2011, Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired Magellan, and Mr. Destro became a commercial leader of the Microbiology Division, working with national contracts, distribution channels, and direct sales in the clinical, pharmaceutical, and industrial markets. From 2000 to 2007, Mr. Destro served as Americas Sales Director for International Bioproducts, managing sales of core food pathogen diagnostic (ELISA) products while leading 17 distributors for the United States, Canada, Mexico and Latin America. Mr. Destro holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Ohio State University.
Mr. Destro said, “Atossa Genetics is an exciting and dynamic opportunity and I look forward to working with the team to commercialize the Company’s products and services for the benefit of millions of women. Atossa has already demonstrated the ability to make a difference in women’s lives. Over the past two decades, I have assembled and led teams that have achieved high growth in the diagnostic biotechnology solutions markets. I look forward to contributing to the next phase of Atossa’s growth as we expand the commercialization of our innovative products and services in the U.S.”
He continued, “One of the things that attracted me to Atossa is its novel and revolutionary approach to diagnosing, treating and preventing Breast Cancer. I believe this uniquely positions us to expand the commercialization of our potentially life-saving and market-changing solutions at a time when the need is greater than ever.”
On December 20, 2012, as incentive to join the company, Mr. Destro was awarded an option to purchase a total of 200,000 shares of Atossa’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, outside the company’s 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan. The stock option has an exercise price equal to $4.11 per share, the fair market value on the grant date, and vests over a four-year period from his commencement of service.
For more information on Atossa Genetics, visit www.atossagenetics.com
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