Progenity Strengthens Executive Leadership Team with Appointment of Sami Shihabi as Chief Commercial Officer
SAN DIEGO, October 22, 2019 – Progenity, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company developing precision medicine solutions across genomic/epigenomic, proteomic, and microbiomic diagnostic and therapeutic platforms, announced the promotion of Sami Shihabi to chief commercial officer. In this new role, Mr. Shihabi will oversee the global commercial operations and corporate development strategies for Progenity’s women’s health and precision medicine business units. He will lead all commercial functional areas including sales, marketing, and managed care.
“Since joining Progenity, Sami has consistently demonstrated his leadership and ability to apply a strategic approach with a keen market awareness to advance our corporate goals and grow our business,” said Harry Stylli, PhD, CEO, chairman of the board, and co-founder of Progenity. “We will continue to call on his strong track record in both genetics and gastroenterology to strengthen our presence in the marketplace while preparing Progenity for the next phase of growth: bringing to market disruptive products aimed at furthering our mission of making healthcare more precise and personal.”
Mr. Shihabi joined Progenity in 2018 as senior vice president of marketing and portfolio strategy. With more than 20 years in the healthcare industry, Mr. Shihabi has acquired significant experience in marketing and commercial operations in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and managed care. Prior to joining Progenity, Mr. Shihabi served as chief commercial officer at Prometheus Laboratories, where he established corporate and portfolio pipeline strategies for the gastroenterology precision healthcare company. He also held roles in R&D, sales, and marketing at Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Baxter International. Mr. Shihabi earned an MBA from the University of California Irvine and a Master of Science degree in molecular biology from Penn State University.
“Over the past year, we have established great momentum in the marketplace by further improving our Innatal® Prenatal Screen with market-leading performance, launching the first commercially available, custom-designed noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT) for monogenic diseases, and demonstrating proof of concept for our ingestible technologies,” said Mr. Shihabi. “I am honored to be leading a talented team that is dedicated to commercializing our pipeline of innovative products so they become accessible to patients who need them.”
