This article has been updated to include confirmation from an Invitrogen official.
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Following the merger of Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems, which is expected to close this month, the combined entity will be named Life Technologies, according to an internal memo from Invitrogen Chairman and CEO Greg Lucier to employees obtained by GenomeWeb Daily News.
When the $6.7 billion deal was announced in June, the firms said that the merged entity would operate under the Applied Biosystems name. However, in a memo sent to employees last night, Lucier said that the leadership teams of the two firms said that as they were “working together to define the identity and vision of our combined organization … one word became prominent in our discussions. That word was ‘life’ — a word that we believe truly symbolizes the promise of our combined company,” he wrote.
He said the leadership team had chosen Life Technologies as the new name for the firm after the merger is closed.
Life Technologies also was the name of the Rockville, Md.-based provider of molecular biology and cell culture supplies that Invitrogen merged with back in July 2000, with Invitrogen retaining its name after that deal.
Lucier said in the memo that the combined entity is “not losing the Invitrogen or Applied Biosystems brands, which will continue to be prominently positioned as part of our brand strategy.”
An Invitrogen official confirmed for GenomeWeb Daily News this afternoon that the new name would be Life Technologies and a statement regarding the name and further details would be issued soon.