AVEXA EGM TO ROLL CHAIRMAN NATHAN DRONA, ELECT DIRECTORS
June 28th 2010 01:15
Wednesday May 26, 2010
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AVEXA
Avexa shareholders will vote on a resolution to replace chairman Nathan Drona and recently appointed director Uri Ratner with Bruce Hewett and Stephen Crowley.
Avexa was left with $23 million in cash following the closure of its apricitabine or ATC program for HIV (BD: May 10, 2010).
The company said at that time that it closed the program after failing find a licencing partner (BD: May 20, 2010).
On May 20, 2010, Avexa announced the resignation of director Joe Baini, to be replaced by Uri Ratner, formerly of Passport Capital, which Avexa said at that time was once the company’s largest shareholder. Due to an absence of substantial and ceasing shareholder notices as Passport Capital reduced its holding, Biotech Daily and the ASX have not been able to verify this claim.
Avexa said the resolutions were called by shareholders with representing about 5.3 percent of the company, but did not identify the signatories.
Biotech Daily has requested the release of the requisition document to discover who has called the meeting but Avexa has not been able to comply.
“The requisitioning shareholders have been invited but have elected not to disclose their intentions or agenda,” Avexa said.
The record date for attending the meeting and voting on the resolutions is 7pm on Sunday July 4, 2010.
Avexa said its board recommended shareholders vote against the four resolutions which call for the removal of Mr Drona as chairman and a director; the appointment of Mr Crowley and Mr Hewett as directors; and the removal of any director appointed between May 6, 2010 and the date of the meaning, which includes Mr Ratner who was appointed on May 19, 2010.
Avexa made a number of claims regarding the meeting including the possibility that the new directors might commit more funds to the ATC program which Avexa said “would be an extremely poor use of shareholders funds with a very low chance of a successful outcome”.
Should the resolutions succeed the new board would compose continuing director David Bottomley, Mr Hewett and Mr Crowley.
Avexa said if all resolutions are passed, “control of the board … would lie with individuals who have not disclosed to shareholders their relevant skills, intentions or strategy for the company”.
Biotech Daily has established that Mr Hewett is the principal consultant of Rx Connect whose website says he is a registered pharmacist.
The website says Mr Hewett joined Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen-Cilag in Sydney as a product specialist in biotechnology and was Faulding Pharmaceuticals general manager for Australia and New Zealand.
It says that in 2006 Mr Hewett founded Max Pharma which was acquired in 2009.
Biotech Daily has spoken briefly with Mr Hewett who is on leave returning to Melbourne in early June.
Mr Crowley has text messaged Biotech Daily to say he is away from his usual place of work and will make contact next week.
Mr Crowley is believed to have worked with Janssen-Cilag and is a part-time senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Health Policy, Programs and Economics.
The meeting will be held at Computershare Conference Centre, 452 Johnston Street, Abbotsford, Victoria on July 6, 2010 at 10am.
Avexa was up 0.4 cents or 13.3 percent to 3.4 cents with 22.0 million shares traded.
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