May 11, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
DUBLIN, Ohio – Leadership roles at Ohio-based Navidea Biopharmaceuticals continue to shift in the wake of a shakeup with the company board of directors, as a director and the company’s accounting firm abruptly resigned, the Columbus Business First reported.
In addition to the two resignations, another lender attempted to freeze its bank accounts over changes in leadership, according to reports. During an investor call this week, Rick Gonzales, Navidea’s chief executive officer, said BDO USA LLP had resigned as the company’s auditing firm without a stated reason. Gonzales also announced that Gordon Troup, a member of the company’s board of directors, also resigned. Troup was the third board member to quit since March.
During the call, Gonzales announced replacements for the auditing firm and Troup. Michael Rice was named as a director and audit committee member, while New York City-based Marcum LLP was tapped as the new auditing firm.
March was a tumultuous month for Navidea, the developer of radioactive diagnostic and therapeutic drugs. Not only was there a board shakeup, but there was an internal squabble between Gonzales and the CEO of its subsidiary, Macrophage Therapeutics.
In March, Navidea announced it would be forced to delay its annual 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission due to bookkeeping issues with its subsidiary Macrophage Therapeutics. The issues with Macrophage resulted in the resignation of Microphage’s CEO Michael Goldberg, as well as the company’s chief operating officer. Navidea is expected to file the form by May 17.
Not only has the board shakeup caused a delay in its filing, but a Houston-based investment firm, Capital Royalty Partners II L.P., accused Navidea of “defaulting on a $60 million loan because of the ‘change in control’ of the company amid the board shakeup,” Columbus Business First reported. Capital Royalty Partners attempted to freeze its bank accounts with Navidea, but earlier this month Navidea fought the attempt in court and was successful in halting Capital Royalty Partners from freezing its accounts. Navidea argued that new directors on the company board of directors does not constitute a default on the loan.
While Navidea is dealing with leadership issues, the company said it remains focused on developing its treatments. In February, the company enrolled its first patients in a clinical study evaluating Lymphoseek injection, a first-in-class mannose receptor (CD206), in women with known cervical cancer. Lymphoseek is also being developed to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
The company is also developing NAV4694, which is a Fluorine-18 labeled precision radiopharmaceutical candidate for use in the imaging and evaluation of patients with cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
