Exhibit 99.1
Twist Bioscience Strengthens Board with Semiconductor and Storage Expert Nelson C. Chan
Replaces Paul Conley on Board of Directors
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – May 23, 2019 – Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ: TWST), a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, today announced it appointed Nelson C. Chan, former CEO of Magellan, as a Class I director to its board of directors. Mr. Chan brings more than 35 years of experience as both a director and operational executive in the technology and life sciences space.
“Nelson’s deep expertise in introducing a new type of data storage, his ability to build businesses with exponential growth and his knowledge of both the semiconductor and life sciences industries internationally make him an excellent fit to guide our next steps in both DNA data storage and genomics,” said Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., CEO andco-founder of Twist Bioscience.
Mr. Chan has been an advisor to Twist for the last 18 months, providing guidance on its DNA data storage vertical. Mr. Chan brings a wealth of relevant expertise to the board, having previously served in various senior management positions with SanDisk Corporation, the world’s largest supplier of flash-branded data storage products, including vice president of global marketing, senior vice president of global sales and marketing and most recently as executive vice president and general manager, consumer business. At SanDisk, Mr. Chan helped drive the business from startup to over $3 billion in annual revenues. He led SanDisk’s entry into the retail business and was instrumental in creating and driving its retail presence through a branded product portfolio. Mr. Chan also served as chief executive officer of Magellan, a leader in consumer, survey, GIS and OEM GPS navigation and positioning markets. In addition to his tenure at SanDisk and Magellan, Mr. Chan held marketing and engineering positions at Chips and Technologies, Signetics, and Delco Electronics. He holds a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University. He serves as chairman of the board of Synaptics and Adesto, and is executive chairman of HZO. He is also a member of the board of directors of Decker Brands, Federated Wireless and Nanosys, and previously served on the board of Affymetrix prior to its acquisition by Thermo Fisher and as chairman of the board of Outerwall until it was purchased by Apollo Management.
“I look forward to sharing my expertise as Twist moves toward the commercialization of a new data storage media in DNA,” commented Mr. Chan. “I believe DNA could be as groundbreaking, if not more so, than flash memory in this field, and Twist, with its high throughput DNA writing platform, is positioned to lead the industry.”
