— COO Kenneth D. Knight named CEO succeeding
Sean George; Dr. George to continue
as member of Board of Directors —
— Co-Founder and former CEO
Randy Scott returns as chairman
—
— Current chairman Eric Aguiar to serve as lead independent
director —
SAN
FRANCISCO, July 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Invitae
(NYSE: NVTA), a leading medical genetics company, today announced
executive leadership and Board changes to help ensure the company
realizes the full potential of its industry-leading genetics
testing platform and delivers tangible and sustainable value for
stockholders. Specifically, Kenneth D.
Knight, who has served as Invitae's chief operating officer
since 2020, is succeeding Sean
George, Ph.D., as CEO and is joining the Board of Directors.
Additionally, Randy Scott, Ph.D.,
Invitae's co-founder, former CEO from 2012 to 2017, and former
executive chairman from 2017 to 2019, is returning to the company
as chairman of the Board. Eric
Aguiar, who has served as Invitae's independent chairman
since 2019 and a member of the Board since 2010, is now serving as
lead independent director. The changes are effective
immediately.
Dr. George, co-founder and CEO of Invitae since 2017, will serve
as a consultant to the company through a transition period and will
retain his role as a member of the Invitae Board.
Mr. Knight is a growth-oriented business leader and operations
executive with more than three decades of multi-industry experience
at Invitae, Amazon, Caterpillar and General Motors. Immediately
prior to joining Invitae as COO in June of 2020, he spent four
years overseeing Amazon's transportation services, global delivery
services and global fulfillment human resources and operations.
Since joining Invitae, Mr. Knight has guided the realignment of the
company's go-to-market strategy, led efforts to improve revenue
quality and driven steady increases in variable cost productivity.
His immediate priorities as CEO will include a sharpened focus on
Invitae's core, more profitable business lines and accelerated work
to right-size the company's cost structure. Success on these fronts
will, in turn, lead to sustainably higher margin growth and an
extension of Invitae's cash runway ahead of cash flow
positivity.
Dr. Aguiar commented, "Invitae's competitive advantages are
well-established: an industry-leading genetics testing platform,
excellent relationships with patients and providers alike and a
relentless focus on lowered costs and accessibility. Ken
understands these attributes incredibly well and is the ideal
leader to harness them in an accelerated drive towards positive
cash flow. We have seen firsthand during Ken's tenure as COO – and
in his prior experience at diversified, large-scale enterprises –
that he will deliver operational execution and cost discipline
while preserving the innovation-first culture that is at the heart
of the Invitae model. The company will unquestionably benefit from
his leadership as CEO, his deep understanding of Invitae and its
growth drivers and his commitment to securing a successful,
sustainable operating platform for the long term.
"At the same time, Randy's return as chairman will allow Invitae
to continue to benefit from cutting-edge science, deep industry
leadership and unparalleled institutional knowledge," Dr. Aguiar
continued. "The combination of Ken and Randy brings together two
highly complementary leaders committed to capitalizing on Invitae's
exceptional opportunities and delivering value to our
stakeholders."
Dr. Scott helped lead Invitae through its inception and
continued growth both as an executive of the company and member of
the Board through 2019. Dr. Scott has a distinguished history as a
pioneer in the genomics industry and has played a founding role in
a number of successful life sciences companies.
Dr. Aguiar concluded, "On behalf of the Board, we thank Sean for
his visionary leadership as Invitae's co-founder and CEO. His
commitment to Invitae's mission, and the successful build-out of
the company's genetic testing capabilities has established
Invitae's place at the forefront of the industry in shaping the
future of medicine."
Mr. Knight said, "I am honored to take on the CEO role and lead
Invitae forward at this important inflection point, as we expand
our critical efforts to focus on our most promising, profitable
aspects of our businesses, drive increased operating efficiency and
successfully navigate the current macro environment. It has been a
privilege to work side by side with Sean, and I look forward to
partnering with Randy and our team to build upon our strong
foundation and further position Invitae for a bright future –
advancing our mission of bringing the power of genetic information
to mainstream medicine."
"We are in the early stages of a genomics revolution that will
transform medicine," said Dr. Scott. "Invitae is a special
organization with talented team members, powerful growth drivers
and a visionary path to deliver innovative genomics to the world.
I'm excited to work together with the Board and management team to
help accelerate Invitae's next phase rooted in disciplined
execution, delivering for our shareholders and stakeholders and
achieving our promise as a transformational platform for genomic
medicine."
"When we recruited Ken to Invitae as our COO, we did so with the
expectation that his experience and skill set would be ideal in
leading the company through its next phase to execute on our
long-term strategy and achieve our distinctive vision," Dr. George
added. "With the timing now right for this transition, I am honored
to pass the baton to Ken and look forward to continuing to support
Invitae at the Board level. It has been tremendously rewarding
bringing Invitae to life while achieving so many successful
milestones over the years with our amazing team."
Kenneth Knight Bio
Kenneth D. Knight has served as
Invitae's chief operating officer since June
2020. Prior to joining Invitae, Mr. Knight most recently
served as vice president of transportation services at Amazon.com,
Inc. from December 2019 to
June 2020, and as vice president of
Amazon's global delivery services and worldwide fulfillment human
resources from April 2016 to
December 2019. Prior to his time at
Amazon, from 2012 to 2016, Mr. Knight served as general manager of
the material handling and underground division, a global business
with $6 billion in annual revenue, at
Caterpillar Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Knight served in various
capacities at General Motors Company for 27 years, including as
executive director of global manufacturing engineering and as
manufacturing general manager. Since June
2021, Mr. Knight has served as a director and a member of
the audit and finance committee of Simpson Manufacturing Co.
Inc. Mr. Knight holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from
the Georgia Institute of Technology and
an M.B.A from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Randy Scott Bio
Randy Scott, Ph.D. is a
co-founder of Invitae Corporation, where he served as chair of the
Board of Directors and chief executive officer from August 2012 to January
2017 and executive chair from January
2017 to August 2019. Prior to
Invitae, Dr. Scott co-founded Genomic Health, Inc., where he served
as chair of the Board of Directors and chief executive officer from
2000 to 2009 and executive chair from 2009 to 2012. Dr. Scott has
served on the boards, including as chairman, of numerous public and
private life sciences companies, and he is the author of more than
40 scientific publications, the holder of 20 patents and the
recipient of numerous awards. Dr. Scott received a B.S. in
Chemistry from Emporia State University
and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Kansas.
About Invitae
Invitae Corporation (NYSE: NVTA) is a leading medical genetics
company whose mission is to bring comprehensive genetic information
into mainstream medicine to improve healthcare for billions of
people. Invitae's goal is to aggregate the world's genetic tests
into a single service with higher quality, faster turnaround time,
and lower prices. For more information, visit the company's website
at invitae.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, including statements relating to the company's beliefs
regarding the impact that the organizational restructuring will
have on the company's business and financial results; the company's
expectations regarding the impact of the leadership changes on the
company's business; the company's expectations regarding business
priorities, objectives, future growth and industry positioning; and
the company's beliefs regarding its vision and business model.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially, and reported
results should not be considered as an indication of future
performance. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to: the continued service and success of Mr. Knight and Dr.
Scott; the company's ability to successfully alter its course in
response to events; the success of company's efforts to achieve
operational efficiency and sustainable operating cash flows, and
decrease cash burn; the company's history of losses; the impact of
inflation and the current economic environment on the company's
business; the company's ability to compete; the company's ability
to manage growth effectively; the company's need to scale its
infrastructure in advance of demand for its tests and to increase
demand for its tests; the company's ability to use rapidly changing
genetic data to interpret test results accurately and consistently;
laws and regulations applicable to the company's business; and the
other risks set forth in the company's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including the risks set forth in the
company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
March 31, 2022. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date hereof, and Invitae
Corporation disclaims any obligation to update these
forward-looking statements.
Contacts for Invitae:
Investor Relations:
Hoki
Luk
ir@invitae.com
Public Relations:
Amy
Hadsock
pr@invitae.com
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SOURCE Invitae Corporation