Ignyta Appoints Dr. Tom Huizinga to Scientific Advisory Board

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ignyta, Inc., the personalized medicine company dedicated to improving the diagnosis and treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other autoimmune diseases, announced today the appointment of Professor Tom Huizinga, Chairman of the Department of Rheumatology at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), to its Scientific Advisory Board.

“Verkenningscommissie Multifactoriele Aandoeningen in het Genomics Tijdperk”

“Ignyta is making a concerted effort to work with the leading rheumatologists in the world as we seek to advance personalized medicine solutions for rheumatologic and autoimmune disorders,” said Jonathan Lim, M.D., co-founder, chairman and CEO of Ignyta. “Tom Huizinga is one of the most published and cited authors in the field of rheumatology, particularly on the topic of detection of early stage rheumatoid arthritis where Ignyta has a strong focus.”

Tom Huizinga is a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Rheumatology at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in Leiden, Netherlands. Professor Huizinga was a member of the Annual Meeting Planning Committee of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) from 2000 to 2003, and the Annual Meeting Planning Committee of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) from 2004 to 2007. In 2006, he was appointed as a member of the Henry Kunkel Society, New York. In 2005/2006, he served as a member of the "Verkenningscommissie Multifactoriele Aandoeningen in het Genomics Tijdperk" of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences.

Professor Huizinga has won various prizes throughout his academic career and has published over 500 peer-reviewed papers in the national and international literature. He is member of the editorial boards of Plos Medicine, Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis and Rheumatism, Current Rheumatology Reviews, Genes and Immunity, International Journal of Advances in Rheumatology, Joint Bone Spine, Revue du Rheumatism International Edition, Current Rheumatology Reviews, Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology.

Professor Huizinga graduated from the University of Amsterdam Medical School, studied at Dartmouth Medical School, and returned to the Netherlands to train in internal medicine/rheumatology.

About Ignyta, Inc.

Ignyta, Inc., located in San Diego, California, is a personalized medicine company developing revolutionary new products and services to customize diagnosis and treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other autoimmune diseases.

The company was launched in August 2011 by Jonathan E. Lim, M.D., former president, CEO, and board director of Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., and Gary S. Firestein, M.D., director of the Clinical and Translational Research Institute and Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor of Translational Medicine at UC San Diego. Ignyta is a trailblazer in the application of “omics” technologies integrated with bioinformatics to the development and commercialization of novel biomarkers and tests for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in autoimmune diseases.

The scientific discoveries that fueled the founding of Ignyta were published in July 2012 in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (http://bit.ly/QOZ8Zr). In 2012, the company successfully closed a $5.5 million Series B financing led by City Hill Ventures, LLC (http://www.cityhillventures.com/) and Colt Ventures (http://www.coltventures.com/). In 2012 and 2013, the company received $500,000 and $1,000,000 capital term loans, respectively, from Silicon Valley Bank (http://www.svb.com/). For more information, please visit: www.ignyta.com.