Invitae (NYSE:NVTA), a leading medical genetics company, today announced the appointment of veteran healthcare leader David Sholehvar, M.D., as chief operating officer, effective November 13, 2023. Dr. Sholehvar is a healthcare business leader with a 25-year track record of successfully solving complex problems and leading business transformations, addressing regulatory challenges and developing new product and growth strategies.
“I’m excited to welcome Dr. Sholehvar to the Invitae leadership team. His extensive general management experience in both large and small healthcare companies, as well as global functional leadership in sales, marketing, strategy and innovation will be an enormous benefit to Invitae as we continue our focus on operational excellence and innovation,” said Ken Knight, president and chief executive officer of Invitae.
Dr. Sholehvar most recently held the role of president, clinical services division, at NeoGenomics Inc., an oncology diagnostics company, where he was responsible for the commercial and strategic growth of the clinical services division. From 2017 to 2020, Dr. Sholehvar served as chief executive officer for Dynex Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of laboratory instruments and associated consumables and accessories, where his focus was transforming Dynex’s business model.
Prior to Dynex, Dr. Sholehvar spent four years with Quest Diagnostics, a Fortune 500 company and leading provider of diagnostic information services, serving as vice president of Quest’s largest sales region from 2014 to 2017, and general manager of infectious disease and immunology from 2013 to 2014. Dr. Sholehvar has also served as vice president for the Americas and EMEA for Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, a former Johnson & Johnson company, and general manager for Cellular Technologies, Inc., a former Johnson & Johnson company, where he oversaw Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries including Veridex, LLC, a startup focused on the detection of circulating tumor cells. Dr. Sholehvar received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh, an M.D. from Thomas Jefferson University and a master of business administration from the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business.
“I’m looking forward to joining the Invitae team and using my healthcare leadership experience to focus on operational excellence in support of Invitae’s mission to make genetic information part of mainstream medicine,” said Dr. Sholehvar.
Inducement Grant
Pursuant to his hiring as Invitae’s chief operating officer, Invitae is granting 850,000 restricted stock units (“RSUs”) to Dr. Sholehvar under Invitae’s 2015 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”), which will be amended and restated to add 850,000 shares of Invitae common stock to a pool of shares under the 2015 Plan which is to be used exclusively for the grant of inducement awards in compliance with New York Stock Exchange Rule 303A.08 (“Rule 303A.08”). The RSUs, which are subject to approval by Invitae’s Board of Directors, are being granted as an inducement material to Dr. Sholehvar’s agreement to be employed with Invitae in reliance on the employment inducement exemption under Rule 303A.08. One-third of the RSUs will vest on each of the first three anniversaries of November 15, 2023, subject to Dr. Sholehvar’s continued service as an employee of Invitae through the applicable vesting dates. The grant of the RSUs is subject to the terms and conditions of the 2015 Plan and the applicable form of stock award agreement.
