Exact Sciences taps Third Wave vets as new CFO, CEO

By Mass High Tech Staff

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Marlborough-based molecular diagnostic company Exact Sciences Corp. has a new management team that includes Maneesh Arora as senior vice president and CFO and Kevin Conroy as president and CEO.

Both positions will be effective on April 2, though Conroy is also joining the board of directors of Exact (Nasdaq: EXAS) immediately, according to company officials.

Conroy replaces current CEO and president Jeffrey Luber; Arora will fill the CFO slot that was occupied by Charles Carelli Jr. Both Luber and Carelli have agreed to resign their current positions on April 2 and stay with Exact through a transition period.

Conroy and Arora both “bring significant experience with molecular diagnostics and managing complex clinical trials” to the table, Exact claimed. Conroy was previously president and CEO of Third Wave Technologies Inc., a molecular diagnostics company; Arora was its CFO. Bedford-based women’s health products maker Hologic Inc. bought Third Wave last year for $582 million.

When Conroy ran Third Wave, he oversaw two human papillomavirus (HPV) molecular diagnostic tests, including their successful clinical trial. Both HPV tests received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval last week. Third Wave also passed a successful clinical trial of its InPlex cystic fibrosis test, which received FDA clearance in March 2008.

Prior to joining Third Wave in July 2004, Conroy held a number of managerial positions. He served as intellectual property counsel at GE Healthcare and was also the chief operating officer of two early-stage, venture-backed technology companies in California.

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