Comprehend Expands Executive Team to Field Increasing Demand
Life Sciences Data Insights Company Adds Lee Black as Vice President of Sales and Ben McGraw as Vice President of Marketing
PALO ALTO, CALIF. – November 5, 2013 – Comprehend has named life sciences and technology veterans Lee Black and Ben McGraw to its executive team to support growth in adoption of its cloud-based clinical data insights software. With valued business development experience spanning enterprise technology and life sciences, Black and McGraw will lead the company's sales and marketing strategy targeting pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies and contract research organizations.
"Every life sciences executive we've spoken with over the past two years has jumped at the chance to leverage the cloud for clinical data insights – further validating our approach to the market and our ability to help sponsors run smarter, faster and safer trials," said Rick Morrison, CEO of Comprehend Systems. "With Lee and Ben's sales and marketing expertise, Comprehend will be well-positioned to build on our momentum and continue to fill a critical gap in the life sciences industry for cloud-based clinical data insights."
A 15-year sales veteran with a proven record of success selling into Fortune 500 companies, Black previously served as director of sales engineering at Meraki, which was sold to Cisco Systems in 2013. Prior to Meraki, Black served as director of sales at Motorola Solutions, Inc., where he led a team focused on global managed services. Black also held several leadership roles at Motorola over a 10-year span, including a sales engineer role at Wireless Valley Communications, Inc. prior to its acquisition by Motorola. Black holds a B.S. in computer science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Prior to joining Comprehend, McGraw served as director of life science industry solutions at TIBCO Software, Inc., where he led market strategy and development of the TIBCO Spotfire life sciences industry product. McGraw previously spent six years at Oracle, Inc. as manager of pharmaceutical product management, where he drove development, marketing and sales for a wide product portfolio. Throughout his career, McGraw has also held positions at Aptuit Informatics and Valentis, Inc. McGraw holds a B.S. in business computer systems from Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California.
Both executives bring valuable life sciences and technology experience to the growing Comprehend team, further supporting the company's mission to deliver cost-effective clinical data insights. In July, Comprehend partnered with Sequoia Capital and raised $8.4 million in Series A funding, enabling the company to expand its solution development. Earlier this year, the company delivered the industry's first quick-access solution for clinical- and operational-data insights through the launch of its online, self-service portal.
About Comprehend Systems, Inc.
Comprehend Systems, Inc. (www.comprehend.com) offers cloud-based clinical data insights tools that improve the way clinical researchers access, understand, explore and analyze data. Designed specifically for life sciences, Comprehend Clinical ™ enables data managers, monitors and clinical operations executives to identify broad operational and clinical trends across trials and also easily drill down and report on a wide range of factors, including safety issues, regulatory requirements and opportunities for critical time and cost savings. Comprehend Systems was founded in 2010 in Palo Alto by a team of entrepreneurs with decades of combined experience in clinical research and software development.
Contact
Susan McCarron
617-986-5767
[email protected]