What inspired you to establish Azenta Life Sciences?

Brooks Automation, a leader in semiconductor automation, embarked on a journey in the life sciences space just under a decade ago. The strategy was to leverage its unique expertise in cryogenic automation to address the growing need for biosample storage and management. The result was a resounding success as the company grew—both organically and inorganically—to become a niche life sciences powerhouse providing unrivaled sample exploration and management solutions to help customers bring impactful breakthroughs and therapies to market faster. The life science business was strong, capable, and ready to stand on its own.

In order to separate the two businesses, the company announced the sale of the semiconductor operations with the intention to use the proceeds to funnel significant investment into the life sciences arm of the company. The semiconductor business retained the Brooks name and Brooks Life Sciences was now ready to transform into a pure life sciences brand.

Brooks Life Sciences transformed into Azenta, a strong brand that has an integrated strategy, strong positioning, a story that inspires, and a look and feel that is modern, authentic, and unique. We wanted to convey to the market that we are ready to meet customer needs today and, in the future. To this end, a strategy was defined to position the company as a life sciences organization to help customers rise above challenges and reach new heights in their pursuit of scientific progress.

What were the initial challenges that you overcame to become one of the leading companies in the industry?

The main challenge for us was that all of this needed to be achieved in a short space of time. We swiftly executed the internal brand launch to our employees and just a few months later, Azenta Life Sciences was brought to market, followed by a celebration debuting our new name and ticker sign by ringing the NASDAQ closing bell.

Azenta is now one consolidated brand, which has been launched across North America, Europe, and Asia. The new strategic focus has been embraced by the market and positioned Azenta Life Sciences to drive innovation and growth with greater speed and precision—and continue its journey to help customers move faster and smarter—making a healthier world for people everywhere.

What makes Azenta Life Sciences’ services and solutions exceptional as compared to the other providers in the industry?

Azenta combines the latest technologies with the depth of our expertise—as molecular biologists, automation engineers, data scientists, and more—to advance the work of fellow life sciences leaders throughout the development life cycle.

Our customers deal with unique and complex challenges. We build a rich understanding of what they need to connect them with the right tools and services in our ever-expanding suite of offerings—today and as their needs evolve.

Because we refuse to compromise on the quality, compliance, privacy, and integrity of samples and data, our customers can make the vital decisions they face quickly and confidently.

Which product has gained popularity among the consumers and why?

At Azenta, it is not just a product that we are promoting but a partnership that continues throughout the development cycle. Our customers have an unrelenting demand to protect the integrity of their critical materials and extract maximum value from them. With our deep expertise and advanced capabilities, we can offer truly integrated solutions that support the entire life cycle of these critical materials.

Take cell and gene therapy (CGT) as an example. Developing and delivering advanced therapies presents many challenges—technical, logistical, and regulatory. We are the right partner to help clear these roadblocks and enable biotech companies to bring CGT products to market with speed and precision. For the discovery phase, we developed a suite of proprietary genomics protocols to tackle the complexities of working with gene delivery vectors. When therapies advance to clinical studies, we have complete, integrated solutions for sample management and analytics. As many CGT products require stable low temperatures, we offer automated cryogenic storage to reliably protect their integrity and scale up with better data management and tracking. Furthermore, we specialize in regulated cold chain logistics worldwide to help safeguard these critical materials during manufacturing and distribution.

Through our partnerships, we help guide companies through all phases of therapeutic development, supporting the rigor of their programs and mitigating risk. Azenta Life Sciences delivers a unique combination of technology, infrastructure, and expertise to enable life sciences companies to bring breakthroughs to market faster.

Azenta is built to support its customers – to help them move faster and smarter — making a healthier world for people everywhere. Our future begins today!

About the Leader:

Ms. Linda De Jesus joined Azenta Life Sciences in January 2021 as Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. She is responsible for leading and managing Azenta Life Sciences’ global commercial function including the establishment of go-to-market strategy and integrated organizational capabilities.

Before joining Azenta, Ms. De Jesus spent over eight years in executive roles at Thermo Fisher Scientific, including VP and General Manager of the Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry Division (CMD). In addition, she was VP of Global Commercial Operations of CMD with the responsibility of annual revenue exceeding $2.6B. Prior to Thermo Fisher Scientific, Ms. De Jesus worked in senior management roles for Agilent Technologies and Waters Corporation.

Ms. De Jesus holds an Executive MBA from the University of Connecticut and a B.A. in Chemistry from Columbia University.

For more information, please visit Azenta.com