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Ex-Dey Labs leader Engle named CEO of Raydiance

PETALUMA, May 14, 2008 -- Mel Engle, former president and chief executive officer of Merck KGaA subsidiary Dey Laboratories in Napa, was named CEO of Petaluma’s Raydiance Inc. to take the ultrashort pulse laser technology company into its next phase of growth.

Mr. Engle will take over the CEO role from Barry Schuler, the former chief executive of AOL who shepherded the company through its first commercialization phase. Mr. Schuler came on four years ago as chairman and CEO of the Orlando-based and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-funded company to develop commercial applications for a compact, cost-effective ultrashort pulse laser system that is fully software driven. He will remain active in the company as its executive chairman.

Twenty-four of the desktop-sized systems have been subscribed to by laboratories, research teams and startup companies. Raydiance hopes to add 100 more of what it calls "Discovery Hubs" during 2008.

"Mel is a consummate operating executive with a very strong track record of rapidly scaling up new companies," said Mr. Schuler. "His experience will be instrumental in growing our infrastructure, supporting more product development and expanding our customer and employee base."

During Mr. Engle's five years at Dey, he moved the focus of the company from developing commodity generic therapies for respiratory, allergy and other breathing disorders to developing and marketing branded products, among them the EpiPen auto injector for anaphylactic shock. Dey's sales grew from $250 million in 2002 when he arrived to more than $600 million in 2007, the year Dey's parent company sold its generics business to Pittsburg-based Mylan Inc. and Mr. Engle resigned.

"My toolkit includes working with small and large companies to bring them to the next level, from proof of concept to commercialization," said Mr. Engle.

Although his background is medical and pharmaceutical, he won't be focusing specifically on those applications for the Raydiance system, which include potential disruptive technologies in skin grafting, virus and cancer treatment, gene therapy and bioengineering. Other applications under development at Raydiance Discovery Hubs include gem and precious metal assaying, nanotechnology and police and military surveillance.

"My approach will be broad to let the technology find its way," said Mr. Engle.

With Mr. Schuler as chairman, Scott Davison as president and himself as CEO, Raydiance has a "one, two, three punch. This company has a tiger by its tail," he said.

Raydiance employs 44 in Petaluma, 16 in Orlando. It plans to add 20 to the Petaluma staff before the end of the year.

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