Novogen (ASX: NRT) Acting Chief Executive Officer, Iain Ross, has announced plans for a review of the company's immediate priorities with the intent of providing a shareholder update by 1 September 2015.
Mr Ross was appointed Acting CEO last week following the sudden resignation of founder and former CEO, Graham Kelly.
“We remain committed to exploiting and creating value from all our technology platforms in order to build a sustainable, international, biotech company," said Mr Ross in a statement.
"Whilst we do not rule out securing third party collaborations and partnerships to further validate and fund our programs, I can confirm there are no M&A plans,” he said.
“Notwithstanding, it is clear that we cannot realistically undertake and fully resource all our research and development programs in parallel all the way through to market approval and launch. These are new ground-breaking and first in class technologies and it is critical that we understand which indications, stage of disease and combinations with other oncology agents will deliver the best outcome for patients and value for shareholders.
“Accordingly I have initiated a Company-wide review and I am working closely with the Board, Management and Company’s scientific advisers to review immediately the pre-clinical programs in detail, including the targeted indications, route of patient administration, product formulations, manufacturing scale-up and regulatory requirements,” Mr Ross continued.
The company said it anticipated re-prioritising some of its current drug development progras.
“One outcome from this process will be to focus our valuable resources; set clear, realistic, scientific and commercial priorities in order that we can execute and manage the business effectively and report our ongoing progress to our shareholders against the priorities we have established. We know already we are under-resourced in some areas and therefore I have commenced the search for a world class CEO and authorized the immediate recruitment of additional staff including a full time CMO, project, and manufacturing management support.
“We operate in a highly competitive market place and we will ensure as an organization we are fit for purpose.”
“In summary Novogen is in an excellent situation. The Company is in a solid financial position with a suite of promising drug candidates. Novogen has world-class science, a scientific team of the highest quality, and some strong academic partnerships. I am delighted to be able to lead the Company through this period of transition and intend to keep shareholders updated,” Mr Ross concluded.