Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) announced today that its board has elected Hologic CEO Stephan MacMillan to fill a new seat and become its non-executive chair.
Edwards Lifesciences CFO Scott Ullem will fill a second new seat — bringing the number of board seats to 11 at the San Diego–based DNA sequencing and array-based tech developer.
The move comes a week after activist investor Carl Icahn’s nominee — Andrew Teno — knocked out previous board chair John Thompson in a shareholder vote. CEO Francis deSouza survived another challenge from an Icahn-backed nominee.
“Both Steve and Scott collectively bring more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, and the appointments are part of our continual process to attract strong independent directors. We believe these two extremely talented business executives will help broaden the skills of the current Board, especially in the fields of corporate finance and international expansion, while bringing their expertise to foster adoption of transformative medical advances across the global marketplace,” Dr. Robert Epstein, chair of the Illumina board’s Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee, said in a news release.
Icahn’s challenge came amid criticism and regulatory scrutiny over how Illumina management handled its $7.1 billion acquisition of cancer test maker Grail.
Illumina is presently appealing a Federal Trade Commission order to divest Grail in order to protect competition to develop better cancer tests.