The Associated Press
Canadian life sciences company MDS Inc., which is selling most of its operations, said Thursday president and CEO Stephen DeFalco will step down after the deals are completed.

The company said Steve West, who leads the MDS Nordion unit, is likely to become CEO after DeFalco resigns. The company promoted West to chief operating officer Thursday. MDS is selling off the other parts of its business, and only the Nordion business will remain.

West has been president of MDS Nordion since 2003. MDS Nordion sells radiological products that are used in diagnostic imaging and sterilization of equipment.

On Sept. 2, MDS said it would sell its MDS Analytical Technologies business to Danaher Corp. for $650 million, and said it will sell its Pharma Services business, which works on drug discovery and early stage clinical testing services. It agreed to sell its late-stage drug development business in June.

In the fiscal third quarter, MDS reported $94 million in revenue from the analytical technologies business, $56 million from pharmaceutical services, and $49 million from MDS Nordion.