Ceres adds Aflalo Guimaraes to Board of Directors

Ceres, Inc., an agricultural biotechnology and seed company, announced recently that Aflalo Guimaraes has joined its board of directors. Mr. Guimaraes succeeds Raymond Debbane, who retired from Ceres' board.

"Mr. Debbane, who was nominated to the Ceres board by Artal Luxembourg, our largest stockholder, has been a steadfast proponent of our technology and intellectual property portfolio, and we have appreciated his support and service to our board as we moved ahead with the advancement and commercialization of our seed products, traits and genomic technologies. We look forward to working with Mr. Guimaraes, who brings extensive financial and business expertise to our board," said Ceres President and CEO Richard Hamilton.

Aflalo Guimaraes is a managing director of The Invus Group, LLC, an affiliate of Artal Luxembourg S.A. Prior to joining Invus in 1998, he was a manager at Marakon Associates where he led strategic consulting engagements for large multi-national companies in a wide range of industries, including financial services, retail and consumer products. He previously worked at the U.S. Federal Reserve. Mr. Guimaraes holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and a BA in Economics and Political Science from Yale University. He currently serves on the boards and audit committees of a number of private companies.