Strategic "realignment" (as opposed to a restructuring which would imply layoffs):
>>CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 5, 2005--Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN - News), a provider of essential life science technologies for disease research and drug discovery, today announced a realignment designed to drive growth by creating an even stronger linkage between its product development cycle and customer base. Effective January 1, 2006, the company will create three new divisions under the traditional BioDiscovery and BioProduction business segments: Life Sciences, Bio-Production Systems and Services, and Enabling Technologies. Each of the divisions will have dedicated manufacturing, research and development, and marketing functions.
The Life Sciences division will focus on key molecular biology and biomedical applications including cloning and protein expression, protein analysis, gene expression profiling, drug discovery solutions and other molecular biology essentials. The Senior Vice President of this division will be Jon Hindar, most recently the CEO of Dynal Corporation, which Invitrogen acquired in early 2005.
Bio-Production Systems and Services will include the current Gibco and BioReliance products and services, as well as the company's customer-focused bioproduction process development initiative. Nicolas Barthelemy, currently the head of global operations for Invitrogen, will lead this division.
Finally, Enabling Technologies will focus on nanotechnology, imaging and microscopy, cell separation and analysis, labeling and detection, bead based separations, the company's antibody center of excellence, and will feature prominent industry brands Molecular Probes, Dynal, BioSource and Quantum Dot. Both the Enabling Technologies and Life Sciences divisions fall under the BioDiscovery business segment. Joining the company as Senior Vice President for the Enabling Technologies Division is industry veteran John L. "Kip" Miller. Miller brings to Invitrogen a successful track record of life science leadership highlighted by product development, sales, marketing and finance assignments. He comes to Invitrogen from BD Biosciences, where he served as Vice President and General Manager, Americas, and where he earlier led the BD Pharmingen unit. Miller holds a bachelors degree in Engineering from Michigan State University.
"At Invitrogen, we aim to create an operating system where we compete on both technology breadth and depth," said Gregory T. Lucier, Chairman and CEO of Invitrogen Corporation. "This realignment allows us to focus our development and commercial efforts along key technology workflows in order to help researchers shape the protocols of tomorrow's medical breakthroughs."
In order to drive greater customer intimacy, the divisions will also be tightly integrated with new technology sales specialist teams (TSS) that provide deep scientific expertise in targeted areas of research. These teams will be able to draw upon solutions from across Invitrogen's product portfolio to address complex applications and workflows.
"As we continue to expand our technological boundaries, it is vital that we remain closely aligned with our customers' unique challenges," concluded Ben Bulkley, Invitrogen's Senior Vice President of Global Commercial Operations. "By creating a unified commercial unit that includes highly technical specialist teams and maximizes our breadth of offering, we offer a total solution for obtaining the products, services and support our customers need."
In addition to the structural realignment, Daryl Faulkner, Senior Vice President of Global Business Segments will retire during the first quarter of 2006 after seven years with the organization. Under his leadership, Invitrogen has experienced tremendous growth and amassed a vast collection of leading technologies.<<
I had no idea they owned Gibco. When did that happen?
I wonder if this move explains the volatility of the past week. I was about to take a position last week in the low $60s and it took off on me. Today it came back a ways, and I again have an eye to entry. Who's to say what affect this might have? If it's going to affect guidance, we're not going to find out until next Wednesday. Wouldn't surprise me if the uncertainty weakens the stock again. I guess it'll be a small position if I'm going to take it in front of such an event.
Cheers, Tuck |
