Earnhardt to Leave CEO Position at Intersect ENT

Intersect ENT is about to go through some pretty significant changes. The company, which was named one of 25 Attractive M&A targets in Medtech, said its president and CEO Lisa Earnhardt would be leaving June 5 for a new opportunity.

Shares of the Menlo Park, CA-based company dropped as much as 17% on Monday after the announcement was made.

“After more than 11 years at Intersect, I will be stepping down from my role in early June as I have accepted another opportunity,” Earnhardt said during an earnings call, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “Kieran Gallahue, who has served as our lead director since April 2015, will immediately assume the new role of executive chair and will also serve as interim CEO starting June 5."

Gallahue served as Chairman and CEO at CareFusion from 2011 until March 2015, and prior to that, he was president, CEO and a director of ResMed. He will helm the position at Intersect until a replacement is found. The Intersect ENT Board said it has initiated a search process to identify a permanent CEO and has engaged an executive search firm to assist with this process.

“During my tenure on the board over the past several years, I've gotten to know the team very well, and I'm proud of the progress that we've made,” Gallahue said according to a Seeking Alpha transcript. “That being said, there's always a big difference between being a Board member and getting involved in more operational. I'm looking forward to digging in deeper, building relationships with the team and focusing on our opportunities to improve and expand.”

Intersect ENT made the leadership change announcement around the same time it posted mixed results from its1Q19 earnings. On one hand the company was able to beat expectations on sales and on the other it had to lower its full year 2019 guidance.

Initially, Intersect ENT said it expected 2019 sales to be between $123 million and $127 million, however the company dropped its guidance between $113 million and $117 million.