Jack Cumming’s tenure in the corner office at Hologic Inc. is over, as the 63-year-old exec steps aside to make way for Rob Cascella, the company’s current president and COO.

Hologic said Cumming, who has held his post since 2001, will retain his post as chairman of the board of directors. In his eight years at the helm of the Bedford, Mass.-based women’s healthcare products firm, Hologic grew from $75 million in annual sales to more than $1.6 billion.

For his part, Cumming said he didn’t take the move lightly but that it has been a “work-in-process for quite some time,” according to a press release.

One thing’s for sure: Cumming’s last year won’t be one he’ll soon forget, as Hologic has taken its share of lumps during the past four quarters.

The company was forced to take a $2.3 billion impairment of goodwill charge to its bottom line during the second quarter, after troubles with the Food & Drug Administration and the $580 million Third Wave acquisition that had yielded little to no fruit. That hangover continued well into the the third quarter, when Hologic once again saw profits shrink 32 percent.

But it appears that Cumming righted ship just in time to step down from his post, as Hologic swung to a $35 million profit on $402 million in sales during the fourth quarter, compared to a $144 million loss on $442 million during the same period last year. And although sales were down, the company still managed to beat its revenues guidance of $390 million to $400 million, posting sales of $402.8 million for the quarter.

Hologic couldn’t shake the massive write-down for its full-year results, finishing with net losses of $2.2 billion on $1.64 billion in sales, compared to a $385 million loss on $1.67 billion in sales during fiscal 2008 — again beating its own sales guidance by a slim margin.