Argos Therapeutics CEO Jeff Abbey has left the company and will start a new role as chief executive of Novadip Biosciences.
Argos (OTCMKTS: [[ticker:ARGS]]) terminated Abbey’s employment on Nov. 30 in connection with the Durham, NC, company’s bankruptcy, according to a securities filing. Also losing their jobs were chief financial officer Richard Katz and chief scientific officer Charles Nicolette.
Shares of Argos fell 65 percent in early 2017 after an interim analysis of a Phase 3 study found that the company’s experimental immunotherapy for kidney cancer was unlikely to work. Earlier this year, the company said it would explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. Argos filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 30.
Belgium-based Novadip develops stem cell therapies intended to regenerate hard and soft tissues. The company’s lead program is in a Phase 1/2 study testing it as a treatment for spinal fusion patients. Novadip says Abbey will start as CEO in “early 2019,” succeeding the company’s founding CEO Jean-Francois Pollet.
