Spectrum Pharma fired CEO Rajesh C. Shrotriya without cause, the company announced late Sunday.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals fired Chief Executive Officer Rajesh C. Shrotriya without cause, the company announced late Sunday. Shrotriya has been with Spectrum for 15 years.
Spectrum has tapped Joseph W. Turgeon, the current company president and chief operating officer, as the new CEO. Turgeon has also been elected to the company board of directors, Spectrum said in its announcement. Turgeon has held the leadership position since 2014 and previously served as the company’s chief commercial officer. Before joining Spectrum Turgeon served as vice president of sales at Amgen
The dismissal of Shrotriya and naming a replacement was not the only change in leadership made by Spectrum this week. To replace Turgeon as COO, Spectrum named Thomas J. Riga, the current chief commercial officer and head of business development to that position. Spectrum also elevated current board member Stuart M. Krassner to chairman of the board.
In its announcement, Spectrum did not specify the reasons for the change in leadership. In a statement, Krassner thanked Shrotriya for his contributions to the company. He added that the board of directors believed the leadership changes were needed to help grow the company.
“I am honored to serve as Spectrum’s next CEO and appreciate the confidence the Board has placed in me to guide the Company forward,” Turgeon said in a statement. “We are at an exciting point in Spectrum’s history, and I look forward to driving the operation forward as we maintain our focus on our product pipeline.”
In October, Spectrum initiated a Phase II trial evaluating poziotinib in non-small cell lung cancer patients with an exon 20 insertion mutation in EGFR or HER2. Poziotinib is a novel, oral pan-HER inhibitor that irreversibly blocks signaling through the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR, HER) family of tyrosine-kinase receptors, according to company information.
Through its clinical history, poziotinib has pleased company investors, which has contributed to a steady growth in company stock since January. On Jan. 4, Spectrum stock was trading at $4.74. The stock closed on Monday at $19.95 per share. In November, analyst Corey Renauer said that poziotinib “looks like a potential solution” to the genetic mutations that help tumors resist treatments such as AstraZeneca‘s Tagrisso. Although still in early stages of development, analysts believe that poziotinib could bring in up to $1 billion annually if it’s approved.
Since the announcement of the leadership change, Spectrum’s stock has dipped a bit, but has regained its losses this morning in pre-market trading. Spectrum stocks dipped to $19.18 following the announcement. In early trading this morning though, shares are up more than 2.75 percent to $20.50, above the $20.35 per share price Monday morning.
