Dako head takes up new role at Agilent Technologies

Dako's president and chief executive officer Lars Holmkvist is taking up a senior vice-president role with Agilent Technologies, which purchased Dako earlier this year.

Mr Holmkvist has been named president of Agilent's diagnostics and genomics group effective immediately and will continue to lead Dako's operations, as well as Agilent's genomics solutions division activities.

Prior to joining Dako, he was the European president at Applied Biosystems and has also served in key roles at Medtronic, meaning he now has more than 25 years of experience within the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.

He has been president of Dako since 2009 and joined Agilent when the acquisition of Dako was completed in June 2012.

Agilent's president and chief executive officer Bill Sullivan said: "Lars' experience and depth of knowledge in the life sciences arena make him the ideal person to direct our efforts in diagnostics and take advantage of the many opportunities in Agilent's expanding markets."

The $2.2 billion (1.36 billion pounds) takeover will help strengthen Agilent's position in the life sciences sector, particularly in the field of oncology.