Shares of Arcturusare down more than 8 percent in morning trading after the company announced it abruptly terminated Joseph E. Payne as president and CEO.
Shares of Arcturus Therapeutics are down more than 8 percent in morning trading after the company announced it abruptly terminated Joseph E. Payne as president and chief executive officer.
In a statement issued this morning, the company board of directors said the decision to fire Payne is “not related to Arcturus’ operational performance, ongoing programs, financial condition or financial reporting.” While the company gave reasons for why Payne was not fired, its brief statement did not provide any reason for why he was actually fired.
Just two weeks ago, Payne was on hand to announce an extended partnership with Takeda Pharmaceuticals. The two companies are working together to develop RNA-based therapeutics for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other gastrointestinal (GI) related disorders. Last year, Payne also helped the company snag strategic collaborations with Johnson & Johnson Innovation to develop infectious disease medicines. The companies will collaborate on together to develop and commercialize nucleic acid-based drug products for the treatment of Hepatitis B, using Arcturus’ UNA Oligomer chemistry and LUNAR lipid-mediated delivery platform. In addition to the HBV program, Janssen also has the option to expand the program into other infectious and respiratory disease programs.
Arcturus also struck a deal with Synthetic Genomics to develop next-generation vaccines.
Payne was also instrumental in the reverse merger with Alcobra Ltd. that gained the company a position on the Nasdaq Global Market. At the time of the merger, Payne said the deal with Alcobra will establish Arcturus as a leading RNA medicines company.
With Payne out, the Arcturus Board of Directors tapped Mark Herbert, head of business development, to serve as interim president. Stuart Collinson, executive chairman of the board, said Herbert has a deep understanding of the company’s strategy as well as its partnerships.
“We are confident that Mark, working with me, the board and the management team, will help us to achieve our objective of developing innovative RNA medicines with the potential to transform the lives of patients with serious diseases,” Collinson said in a statement.
In a statement, Herbert, who joined the company in 2015, said he was committed to working with the board of directors and company management team to continue to advance preclinical programs and work with strategic partners to ensure the “ongoing success of the company.” Herbert praised the employees at the company
“We are well-positioned as we continue our momentum and advance our goal of delivering innovative nucleic acid therapeutics to patients with rare diseases, Hepatitis B, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cystic fibrosis, and other serious indications,” Herbert said
