Laboratory Corporation of America on Wednesday announced the resignation of the head of its drug development division after a nearly 30-year stint at the company.
The company said Deborah Keller notified the company on Wednesday that she would resign as CEO of its Covance Drug Development division on Oct. 1. LabCorp's announcement came in the form of a one-sentence statement in a regulatory filing.
A LabCorp spokeswoman said the company has identified her successor and plans to announce the appointment in the coming weeks, but the spokeswoman did not provide any further details on why Keller chose to leave. LabCorp acquired Covance in November 2014, and the business has so far contributed positively to LabCorp's financial results.
"Deb did a tremendous job accomplishing all of the key objectives she was given when she assumed the CEO role: managing through leadership changes, stabilizing the business and restoring growth," the spokeswoman said. "We support her in her decision and thank her for her many years of dedicated service."
Keller was promoted to Covance CEO in July 2015 and has since led the integration of the company into LabCorp. Prior to her current role, she held several senior leadership positions in operations, quality assurance and marketing, according to a previous news release.
As head of Covance, Keller reported to David King, LabCorp's CEO.
Keller's departure comes on the same day that the company has announced it has finished its acquisition of Sequenom, a non-invasive prenatal testing firm. LabCorp and rival Quest Diagnostics have engaged in significant M&A activity in recent years.
