- Push-out Score determined
- After about five and a half years in the position
- Praise and thanks for George
- Ken Knight taking over
- George said 94 words
(exechange) — San Francisco, California, July 18, 2022 — Sean George, chief executive of Invitae, leaves. As announced by Invitae Corp. in a news release on Monday, July 18, 2022, Sean E. George leaves his post as chief executive officer at the medical genetics company, after about five and a half years in the role, effective immediately.
Sean George’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Kenneth D. (Ken) Knight, most recently chief operating officer at Invitae Corp.
“To help ensure the company realizes the full potential”
Invitae did not give an explicit reason for Sean George’s departure from the CEO post. Invitae said: “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.”
Precise information regarding Sean George’s future plans was not immediately available.
Invitae said: “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.”
Share price decline since January 2021
The announcement follows a decline in Invitae Corp.’s share price of 93% since January 2021.
In the position of CEO since 2017
Sean George became CEO of the Company in 2017.
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.
George is one of the Company’s co-founders and has been the Company’s Chief Executive Officer since January 2017, a position he also held from January 2010 through August 2012.
George has served as the Company’s President since August 2012, and served as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer from August 2012 until January 2017.
Prior to co-founding Invitae, George served as Chief Operating Officer of Navigenics, Inc., a personalized medicine company, from 2007 to November 2009.
Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Senior Vice President, Life Science Business at Affymetrix, Inc., a provider of life science and molecular diagnostic products, as well as Vice President, Labeling and Detection Business at Invitrogen Corporation, a provider of tools to the life sciences industry, during his tenure there from 2002 to 2007.
From September 2020 to July 2021, George served as a director of CM Life Sciences Inc., a life science-focused company that merged with Sema4 Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: SMFR), a patient-centered health intelligence company.
George holds a B.S. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from the University of California, Los Angeles, an M.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding Sean George’s move on a scale of 0 to 10.
exechange reached out to Invitae and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 30.2022 ($).