Peter Collins has stepped down with immediate effect as chief business officer at Premaitha Health, the international molecular diagnostics group.

Collins has been at the Manchester-based company since July 2014. He was previously employed as vice-president, head of diagnostics, at pharma giant GSK.

He played a key role in developing Premaitha’s business as a supplier of non-invasive prenatal testing for Down’s syndrome and other major chromosomal abnormalities, a sector with considerable potential in Asian markets. He was also instrumental in the acquisition of Yourgene Bioscience, which increased the group’s prenatal testing offering.

Premaitha chief executive Lyn Rees said: “Peter has played a critical role in the development and success of Premaitha Health, not least in bringing Yourgene into the group and in the recent negotiations with Illumina. His industry network and willingness to travel the world on behalf of Premaitha have helped us to become a truly global business and he leaves the business with a healthy platform for further growth.  We wish Peter the best of luck in his future endeavours.”

Collins’ departure comes after shareholder approval for Premaitha to change its name to Yourgene Health. No specific date was given for the name change.