As it faces uncertainty in the research market at home and abroad, Illumina is making changes to its board of directors, bringing on an activist investor and installing a former FDA commissioner as chair.
Scott Gottlieb, M.D., who led the federal regulatory agency from 2017 to 2019, has held a seat on the DNA sequencing giant’s board since early 2020. He’ll take the place of Stephen MacMillan, the president and CEO of Hologic, who is stepping down from his position, according to Illumina, in order to focus on the devicemaker’s upcoming annual shareholder meeting.
At the same time, Keith Meister, managing partner and chief investment officer of the hedge fund Corvex Management, will take a seat on the board by the end of this week. Meister once held an executive role at the firm of Carl Icahn before founding Corvex in 2010. Corvex currently owns about 1% of Illumina’s shares.
Icahn, meanwhile, led a proxy battle against Illumina in 2023 over the company’s failed acquisition of cancer blood test maker Grail, resulting in the ouster of its previous CEO as well as another board member.
Since the start of this year, Illumina has been caught in the middle of escalating tariffs between the U.S. and China while also being squeezed by cuts to federal research funding under the Trump administration.
In early March, China banned imports of Illumina’s DNA sequencing instruments after the White House doubled the 10% tariff it had levied on the country the month before. Shortly after, Illumina announced that it would aim to cut $100 million in costs and lowered its financial forecasts as it considers the loss of revenue.
Illumina’s shares also lost value earlier this year, along with sequencer makers PacBio and 10x Genomics, after the National Institutes of Health said it would be capping grants for indirect R&D expenses, which can include purchases of new equipment. Illumina’s stock price has dropped by about one-third since the start of the year to about $88 per share.
Gottlieb also serves as a director at Pfizer and Tempus AI and is a partner at the venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates. Meister currently holds seats on the boards of MGM Resorts, GeneDx and Vestis.