Ethan Knowlden leaves Novartis for Complete Genomics

Complete Genomics has appointed Ethan Knowlden as the company's new senior VP, general counsel.

Knowlden joins from Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, where he was VP of business development and licensing, and corporate counsel. He spent more than 13 years at Novartis and its predecessor Chiron Corp.

In his new role, he will provide legal advice to Complete Genomics, which is a US subsidiary of the China-based genomics firm BGI-Shenzhen.

Complete Genomics is one of the leading companies working in human genomic sequencing, having sequenced more than 15,000 whole human genomes.

"Whole human genome sequencing will dramatically change the way in which healthcare is practiced in many countries during the next decade and I am delighted to be part of the Complete team at this transformative time," said Knowlden.