UPDATE: July 22, 2019: Hologic announced Monday Kevin Thornal, who is currently the president of the company's medical aesthetics division, will become the president of its diagnostics unit. 

Erik Anderson, currently the vice president of sales for Hologic's medical aesthetics division, will be promoted to replace Thornal. 

The changes will take effect July 29.

Dive Brief:

• Thomas West has resigned as president of Hologic’s diagnostics division effective July 1 and will assume the CEO position at Intersect ENT, a manufacturer of steroid-releasing sinus implants.

• West spent almost five years at Hologic, during which time sales at his unit hovered around $1.1 billion, with growth in molecular diagnostics offsetting falling blood screening revenues. 

• At Intersect, West will apply his experience to try to grow sales of a family of implants used to maintain the sinus opening after surgery, according to a news release Thursday.

Dive Insight:

West arrives at Intersect with an extensive background in the medical device industry. Prior to joining Hologic in 2015, West spent 22 years at various Johnson & Johnson businesses, including now-divested blood glucose monitor unit LifeScan, culminating in his leading the global strategy of J&J's diabetes care franchise.

At Hologic, West oversaw the diagnostics unit during a period in which the unit and its place within the company changed. The diagnostics unit went from accounting for 44.9% of Hologic sales in the 2013 to 2014 fiscal year to 34.9% of the total in the most recent set of accounts. Diagnostics sales slipped slightly over that period, in large part because of the divestiture of the blood screening business. 

In unveiling West as its CEO, Menlo Park, California-based Intersect focused on the growth of molecular diagnostic sales during his time at Hologic, plus the FDA approvals achieved by the unit. Intersect is looking to West to help grow sales of its product portfolio.

Intersect's revenues topped $100 million for the first time last year. Almost all of Intersect’s revenues come from the U.S., but it is working to establish itself overseas, starting in Germany and Japan. West led commercial operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for J&J’s Lifescan business earlier in his career. 

In the U.S., the growth of Sinuva will be a top priority for West. FDA decided to regulate the drug-device combination as a drug, pushing Intersect, a maker of implants, into new territory. Early sales of Sinuva disappointed, forcing Intersect to lower its financial guidance last year.

Long-time Intersect CEO Lisa Earnhardt oversaw the launch of Sinuva but left the company earlier this month to head up medical devices at Abbott. Kieran Gallahue, who served as interim CEO after Earnhardt left, will continue as executive chairman of the board when West arrives next month.

The changes at the top of Intersect will continue into next year. Jeri Hilleman is set to step down as CFO of Intersect early next year to focus on serving the boards of other companies. Hilleman is on the board at Novocure, a manufacturer of devices to treat cancer. Intersect has begun looking for a replacement CFO.