Illumina, San Diego’s DNA-sequencing giant, has a new boss.
Illumina’s board tapped Jacob Thaysen, a seasoned life science executive, to lead the $25 billion biotechnology company starting on Sept. 25. Thaysen, 48, will be relocating to San Diego after working for more than a decade at Agilent Technologies, a Northern California life science company.
Thaysen will be taking the top position at one of San Diego’s largest public companies, which employed approximately 6,300 workers in the Americas and 10,200 worldwide at the end of last year.
“Jacob’s unique combination of deep technological and commercial experience will be a great addition to Illumina,” said Illumina board chair Stephen P. MacMillan in the announcement. “He brings a fresh perspective, a demonstrated track record driving profitable growth, and a strong commitment to create value for all of Illumina’s stakeholders.”
Founded in 1998, Illumina is a global leader in DNA sequencing technology, which allows scientists to analyze genetic materials for various applications such as novel drug development and researching diseases.
Thaysen comes to San Diego after serving as senior vice president of Agilent Technologies and president of its life sciences and applied markets group since 2018. He led Agilent’s largest business segment, which includes its analytical instrument portfolio, informatics, and cell analysis franchise. In 2022, the division generated approximately $4 billion in revenue and had about 50,000 customers.
Prior to this role, Thaysen was president of Agilent’s diagnostics and genomics group from 2014 to 2018. He holds a master’s in science and a doctorate in physics from the Technical University of Denmark.
“Illumina’s technology is at the forefront of sequencing and has set the pace for the industry. I am honored, privileged, and excited to lead such a great organization,” Thaysen said in the announcement. “I’m planning to hit the ground running and looking forward to working with the incredibly talented teams at Illumina.”
Thaysen will be paid an annual $1 million base salary, $500,000 g bonus and a one-time grant of equity awards valued at approximately $3.5 million to compensate for equity forfeited at Aligent, according to Illumina’s SEC filings. Starting next year, Thaysen will be eligible for a cash bonus program and to receive annual equity awards with an aggregate value of $10 million, which is primarily tied to company performance.
Illumina’s former CEO, Francis deSouza, was compensated about $26.8 million in 2022 — almost double his pay for 2021. Most of his compensation bump came from stock options, which was bemoaned by investors as Illumina’s market value dropped by millions following the acquisition of Grail.
Though Thaysen does not have CEO experience on his resume, industry analysts point to his technical knowledge and deep background in the life science tools market as a positive.
Thaysen “checks all the boxes” for the specific skills Illumina needs in a CEO, said Vijay Kumar, a financial analyst at Evercore ISI, in a research note. Kumar wrote that Thaysen’s prior experience will help Illumina on multiple fronts, as he has dealt with clinical customers and is a known leader in the life science investor space.
His experience leading Agilent’s largest business segment and navigating the international clinical market with Agilent’s genomics and diagnostics division, should be a benefit in his new role, said Puneet Souda, a senior analyst with Leerink Partners, in a research note.
“Though we were expecting a higher profile CEO, we see Jacob Thaysen’s appointment is constructive with Illumina needing someone with operational experience in manufacturing and China,” wrote Souda.
Thaysen takes the helm of Illumina in a critical season for the company following a months-long proxy battle by activist investor Carl Icahn that resulted in deSouza reg. The C-suite shakeup started because Icahn was discontent with the company’s leaders pushing through a $7.1 billion acquisition of early cancer detection startup Grail.
Illumina completed its purchase of Grail in August 2021. Eventually, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Europe’s top antitrust regulator rejected the merger as anti-competitive and ordered Illumina to divest Grail.
The company is fighting the regulatory orders in court and the SEC is investigating the deal.
Charles Dadswell, Illumina’s senior vice president and general counsel, served as interim CEO since deSouza’s departure in June, and he will return to his previous role once Thaysen becomes CEO.
