Wednesday, August 27, 2014

NanoString's Cowen Passes Away Unexpectedly

Dr. J. Wayne Cowens, the Chief Medical Officer of Seattle-based NanoString Technologies, has unexpectedly passed away, the company said this morning. Cowens was 67 years old. The developer of life sciences tools said that Cowens was instrumental in building the company's diagnostic development capabilities, and helping to build the company's team. NanoString said it has created a team to head up its efforts in medical affairs, regulatory and product development while it searches for a new Chief Medical Officer. Cowens had been Chief Medical Officer at the company since February of 2011, and also had served at Genomic Health, Chiron, and Ribyzme Pharmaceuticals, in addition to consulting for IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Scios, and Ligand Pharmaceuticals.