Investing.com -- Shares in Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) rose in premarket U.S. trading on Monday after the gene-sequencing machine maker's Chief Executive Francis deSouza stepped down over the weekend.
In a statement on Sunday, Illumina said its board had accepted deSouza's resignation. Senior Vice President and general counsel Charles Dadswell will serve as interim CEO while a search is underway to find deSouza's successor.
The departure was viewed as a victory for activist investor Carl Icahn, who had been at odds with the company over its decision to reacquire cancer diagnostic test maker Grail in 2021. Icahn had argued that the deal had cost investors billions of dollars and should be reversed.
Illumina's stock has shed about 60% of its value since it repurchased Grail.
In a tweet, Icahn wrote that he was "happy" to see the change in leadership at Illumina, but noted that he believed the shake-up should have come "meaningfully sooner."
Meanwhile, deSouza told employees on LinkedIn that he still retained a belief in "the potential of GRAIL's potentially life-saving technology and the benefits of merging it with Illumina."
Analysts quoted by Reuters said the announcement could serve as a precursor to Illumina exiting its acquisition of Grail.
San Diego-based Illumina already faces regulatory pressure to divest Grail. It is currently appealing an order from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission earlier this month to reverse the purchase.