February 2, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
The Woodlands, Texas – Repros Therapeutics announced that Joseph Podolski was resigning as president, chief executive officer and board member. He will be replaced by Larry Dillaha as interim president and chief executive officer, effective immediately.
Since November 2016, Dillaha has been the chief executive officer and board member of CavtheRx, a pre-IND stage, virtual company. From April 2014 through January 2017, he was the chief operating officer and chief medical officer of New Haven Pharmaceuticals. He has also held positions at Insys Therapeutics , Sciele Pharma, and Sanofi-Synthelabo/Sanofi. The company’s 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicate Dillaha will be paid $30,000 in cash per month for a minimum of six months, as well as reimbursed for expenses. He also has the option to buy 50,000 shares of the company stock once the FDA and the company agree on a protocol for Phase III trials for Proellex (telapristone acetate) for uterine fibroids.
The company’s chief financial officer, Katherine Anderson, was also granted 10,000 restricted shares per month.
On January 30, 2017, the company announced that the FDA had granted an “end of Phase II” meeting to discuss the Phase III protocols for the Proellex trial. That meeting is scheduled before the end of April 2017.
In the Phase II trial, the drug induced amenorrhea (cessation of menses) in more than 90 percent of subjects after two 18-week treatment cycles.
“As Repros continues to advance its pipeline, the board will be conducting a search for a CEO with the appropriate experience to lead the Company’s next stage of growth,” said Patrick Fourteau, Repro’s board chairman, in a statement. “We’re grateful for Joe’s many years of dedication to Repros and wish him every success in his future endeavors.”
Repros is currently trading for $1.21. Shares traded on April 19, 2016 for $3.13, and drifted for some time around $2 per share, hitting $1.90 on September 7, 2016.
On Monday, S&P Equity Research changed the company’s price objective from $1.22 to $1.50. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services on November 16, 2016, upgraded shares from “neutral” to “buy.”
The company’s market cap is $35.52 million. It had a one-year low of $0.80 and a high of $3.48. Its 50-day moving average is $1.37. Its 200-day moving average is $1.80.
On Friday, December 9, 2016, Podolski acquired 20,000 shares of Repros stock at an average cost of $1.60 per share for a total transaction of $32,000.
Repros was founded in 1987. It has two compounds in its pipeline. They are enclomiphene, which is being developed for men of reproductive age with low testosterone due to secondary hypogonadism. The other is Proellex, being developed for uterine fibroids and endometriosis.
The company hasn’t announced its fourth-quarter and year-end results. On November 8, 2016, it released its third-quarter 2016 results. It showed a net loss of $4.2 million for the quarter with a loss of $0.17 per share compared to a net loss of $6.6 million ($0.27) per share for the same quarter in 2015. The company indicated that the decreased loss for the quarter, as well as for the nine-month period, was “primarily due to decreased clinical development expenses related to the Company’s enclomiphene and Proellex product candidates, as well as decreased payroll and benefits expenses and legal expenses.”
As of September 30, 2016, it reported $10.5 million in cash and cash equivalent. General and administrative expenses dropped by 9 percent, or about $103,000 to $997,000 for the three-month period compared to $1.1 million for the same period the previous year. “Total revenues and other income increased to $10,000 for the three-month period ended September 30, 2016 as compared to $1,000 for the same period in the prior year. Total revenue and other income increased to $41,00 for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016 as compared to $3,000 for the same period in the prior year.”
