The new company formed by the merger between life science suppliers Invitrogen Corporation and Applied Biosystems Inc. (ABI) will sport a new name: Life Technologies.

GenomeWeb Daily News obtained a memo from Invitrogen CEO Greg Lucier, who wrote that the merged company would adopt the new name - it was going to stay Applied Biosystems as of earlier this month - because the word life, "truly symbolizes the promise of our combined company." The shareholders of the two companies approved the merger last week (Oct 28).

Lucier added that Life Technologies is "not losing the Invitrogen or Applied Biosystems brands, which will continue to be prominently positioned as part of our brand strategy."

The merger between Invitrogen and ABI will be finalized in about a month pending "antitrust clearance under the European Council Merger Regulation and other customary closing conditions," according to an ABI release.