We lowered the price of the genome from about $5,000 to $200 allowing millions to benefit from genomics

In a post by Francis deSouza on Linkedin, it says, “I just shared this letter with Illumina employees announcing my decision to hand over the leadership of the company. Thank you to so many. Illumina’s future is bright, and I can’t wait to watch the company bring the power of genomics to all.

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Dear Team,

After ten life-changing years, I have decided that it’s time for me to hand over the reins of leadership at Illumina. As I described to the Board last week, my decision to leave was an extremely difficult one since the people and mission at Illumina inspire me every day and my friendships here are dear to me. Leaving you will be a loss, deeply felt. That said, I leave with a sense of fulfillment and pride at where, together, we have taken the company over that ten-year course.

The Board is launching a search for Illumina’s next CEO. Chuck Dadswell, our seasoned General Counsel, will be interim CEO and I will remain as an advisor to Illumina through July.

In 2013 Illumina was at a pivotal moment. We were the leader in research genomics, and we knew our future growth would come from the emerging clinical markets. Many people told us it was impossible for a research company to also serve clinical markets.

Over the last decade, we embarked on a transformation effort and worked tirelessly to make everything we do clinical-grade – how we design, build, market, sell, and support our products. Today, we are the world’s leading clinical genomics company, with about half our revenues coming from clinical markets like non-invasive prenatal testing, cancer therapy selection, and genetic disease testing. I’m so proud of what the team has accomplished.

Along the way, we lowered the price of the genome from about $5,000 to $200 allowing millions to benefit from genomics, and we scaled our revenues from $1.05 billion in 2012 to $4.58 billion in 2022. Today Illumina is a more clinical, more digital, and more global company. This is testimony to our innovation, and resilience in the face of many obstacles.

Illumina is now at a pivotal point again. We’ve just successfully launched the powerful NovaSeq X and the next decade will be all about making genomics mainstream. Fewer than one percent of people have had their genome sequenced. The work we do here will make genomics accessible to everyone, not just the rich and lucky. With breakthrough offerings like the NovaSeq X, our clinical workflows, and our global reach, Illumina is poised to make that happen.

GRAIL brings clinical genomics to mainstream consumers with its revolutionary cancer screening blood test. My belief in the potential of GRAIL’s potentially life-saving technology and the benefits of merging it with Illumina remains unshakeable. It takes bold moves and courage to “improve human health by unlocking the power of the genome.” That is Illumina’s mission, and it is in our DNA.

We have created so many amazing memories at Illumina – our 65-day, around-the-clock sprint from concept to the FDA EUA-approved CovidSeq to help the world fight the pandemic, watching the team present the unexpected data on cancer signals in blood (which led to the creation of GRAIL), and unveiling the revolutionary NovaSeq X at the Illumina Genomics Forum.

My respect and affection for you, my colleagues over these past ten years, are unbounded. I am grateful to our customers, partners, investors, and Board. I cannot list names because there are too many people to whom I owe too much. Your passion and commitment are changing the world.

What’s next for me? For now I am focused on helping with the leadership transition at Illumina. Beyond that, I will stay true to the mission of advancing humanity by harnessing breakthrough technologies. And I look forward to time with my wonderful daughters, especially since this is my youngest’s last year at home before she heads off to college.

I leave with a sense of fulfillment and pride in where we have all taken the company together. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve you and to serve Illumina.”

Source: Francis deSouza/Linkedin