Illumina, a leading biotech company, announced on Sunday that CEO Francis deSouza has resigned from his position. This development comes just weeks after activist investor Carl Icahn’s attempt to oust deSouza from the company was unsuccessful.

The board of directors at Illumina has accepted deSouza’s resignation and has initiated a search for a new CEO. The search process will consider both internal candidates within the company and external candidates, as stated in a press release. In the interim period, Charles Dadswell, Illumina’s senior vice president and general counsel, will serve as the acting CEO.

Although deSouza’s resignation is effective immediately, he will continue to contribute to the company in an advisory capacity until July 31.

Expressing his thoughts on his departure, deSouza said in the release, “It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve Illumina. We have made great progress together, but I believe we are still at the very beginning of the impact Illumina will have on human health by unlocking the power of the genome.”

The resignation of deSouza marks a significant change in leadership for Illumina, which is renowned for its advancements in genetic sequencing and genomics technology. DeSouza’s tenure as CEO has seen notable achievements and contributions to the field of genomics.

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