NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Celera said today that it has completed its separation from Applera and is now trading as an independent publicly traded firm on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol “CRA.”
Applera, meantime, has changed its name to Applied Biosystems Inc. Its stock will continue to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ABI."
Celera’s shares began trading at $11.15 this morning and were up slightly to $11.32 in mid-morning trade on the Nasdaq. ABI shares were trading at $33.33 in mid-morning trade.
In addition to four previously named directors for Celera, the company said today that is has added two new directors: William Green, general counsel and chief program officer of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and former senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary of Chiron; and Gail Naughton, dean of the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University and chairman and CEO of Histogen.
Previously named directors include Richard Ayers, retired chairman and CEO of the Stanley Works and a former director of Applera; Jean-Luc Belingard, chairman and CEO of Ipsen and a former director of Applera; Kathy Ordonez, CEO and president of Celera; and Bennett Shapiro, a director of PureTech Ventures and a former executive vice president of Merck & Co.
The new board has elected Green as its non-executive chairman.
Celera said that the board has also decided to align the company’s fiscal year, which currently ends June 30, with the calendar year. As a result, the company expects to issue its financial guidance for the remaining six months of calendar 2008 when it reports earnings for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008.
Ordonez said in a statement that the company plans to launch its first offering as an independent company — a testing service for the gene variant KIF6, which is associated with risk for heart disease and statin benefit — “in the coming weeks.”