Candace Kendle, Pharm.D., will step down from her role as Kendle’s chief executive officer, effective May 1. She will remain chairman of the board. Senior vice president and chief operating officer Stephen Cutler, Ph.D., will become the company’s next president and chief executive officer. Jamie Macdonald will assume Dr. Cutler’s previous roles.

Christopher Bergen will leave his position as executive vice president and chief administrative officer but will continue to serve on the Kendle’s board. The CAO role, held by Mr. Bergen since July 2009 to lead the company’s key global connectivity initiatives, including ERP, will be eliminated as these initiatives are in advanced stages of implementation. Dr. Kendle and Mr. Bergen co-founded Kendle in 1981.

“We would like to thank our leadership team and the many talented associates across the globe with whom we have had the privilege to work in making Kendle the leading CRO it is today,” said Dr. Kendle. “With the company solidly positioned for growth in a strengthening market and an outstanding successor and executive team in place, now is the right time for me to step into the role of a non-executive chairman.”

Dr. Kendle continued, “Steve Cutler is ideally suited to lead Kendle moving forward. With more than 20 years of senior management and operations leadership experience in the CRO and biopharmaceutical industries, he has a strong track record of success in building outstanding teams, executing winning strategies and driving operational and service excellence. Since 2009, Steve has been central to Kendle’s leadership during a critical period in our history and has been a key architect of our return-to-growth strategy. I have enjoyed working with him and the board as part of the planned succession process and look forward to working together to ensure a smooth and orderly transition.”

Dr. Cutler joined Kendle in 2009 as senior vice president and chief operating officer and since that time has provided global leadership for the company’s worldwide Late Stage operations. Prior to Kendle, Dr. Cutler spent 14 years with Quintiles where he served in a variety of senior vice president roles. Prior to joining Quintiles Dr. Cutler held positions with Sandoz in Australia and Europe.

Jamie Macdonald will join Kendle May 1 following 16 years with Quintiles where he served most recently as senior vice president and head of Global Project Management with direct responsibility for more than 1,000 associates and delivery of approximately $2 billion in annual service revenue. While at Quintiles Mr. Macdonald held a number of executive-level roles.