Life Technologies
Company: Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA
Entry Submitted By: Canale Communications
Company Description: Life Technologies Corporation is a global biotechnology tools company dedicated to improving the human condition. Life Technologies had sales of $3.3 billion in 2009, has a presence in approximately 160 countries, and possesses a rapidly growing intellectual property estate of approximately 3,900 patents and exclusive licenses.
Nomination Category: Management Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Executive of the Year - All Other Industries
Nomination Title: Greg Lucier, CEO
1. Tell the story about what this nominee achieved since January 1 2009 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
As chairman and chief executive officer of global biotechnology company Life
Technologies, Greg Lucier is, and always has been, focused on positioning the
company to shape the new era of healthcare based on molecular technologies, such
as DNA sequencing and personalized medicine, to better the human condition.
With his keen sense of strategy, focus on market trends and vast experience in
the industry, Mr. Lucier has led the company to unparalleled heights. Acting as
CEO of Invitrogen, Mr. Lucier orchestrated the 2008 acquisition of Applied
Biosystems, the company that led the charge in the sequencing of the human
genome. This $5 billion-plus deal, which closed in November 2008, created a
giant in the life sciences industry and was Invitrogen’s largest acquisition, so
the successful integration of the two companies was paramount for 2009.
From day one, Mr. Lucier was committed to bringing the two companies together as
seamlessly as possible. He drove the rapid formation of an integration team to
take the best parts of Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems and plan for a
stronger, better combination in the new company. The team quickly and
efficiently established the right organizational structure that is critical to
the success of the company. The executive team’s smooth integration plan enabled
them to deliver over $100 million in synergies, considerably higher than
original expectations. In addition, the team was able to merge the two companies
into one company with a solid foundation of processes and systems, including a
94 percent retention rate.
Under Mr. Lucier’s leadership, the company has grown from $700 million in
revenues when he took the helm in 2003 to $3.3 billion in sales in 2009.
Investors applauded the efforts of 2009 as revenues increased a healthy five
percent in a recession and the stock price rose 124 percent. The company has
expanded to serve clients in more than 160 countries around the globe and
employs more than 9,000 people. Mr. Lucier’s team managed day-to-day business to
ensure that there was no drop in service levels or the quality of the companies’
products during the integration. Validating leadership’s success, sales teams
were recently ranked number one by customers in both instruments and reagents.
Under Mr. Lucier’s watch, Invitrogen has acquired 18 companies whose
technologies complemented the company’s core business and gave the company
market-leading technologies in cell labeling, drug discovery, primary cell
lines, antibodies, proteomics and RNAi.
Leading Life Technologies requires the ability to accomplish the day to day
tasks needed to run the business and the vision to see how a life science tools
company can evolve to be a leader in the realization of the promise of
personalized, molecular medicine. Mr. Lucier’s vision enabled him to steer the
innovative molecular biology company he took over in 2003 to a global technology
leader in 2010 that will be instrumental in the implementation of programs that
will allow society to realize the promise of personalized medicine.
2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/21/merger-isnt-cramping-life-technologies-style/
3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the nominee:
Gregory T. Lucier serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Life
Technologies. Previously, he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Invitrogen Corporation from 2003 until 2008, when the company merged with
Applied Biosystems in November 2008 to form Life Technologies. Mr. Lucier serves
on the BIO Board of Directors as well as on the board of the Burnham Institute
of Medical Research. He is actively involved at San Diego State University as a
distinguished lecturer. He received his B.S. in Engineering from Pennsylvania
State University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.