Cussen resigns from Eiffel

Christine Cussen has resigned from her role as chief executive of drug re-engineering company Eiffel (ASX:EIF), at a time when the company's share price has dipped below $0.04 - more than two thirds below its level in January of around $0.12.

Cussen had been with the company for three and a half years, and is moving on for "personal reasons" which she said are linked to the company's move from Melbourne to Sydney. "I'm not able to permanently relocate to Sydney," she said today.

Eiffel chairman Tom Hartigan said the Eiffel board would not be looking to appoint a new chief executive officer to take Cussen's place, having appointed Dr Pascal Hickey as general manager. Hickey joined Eiffel in 2003 from Powerject - now part of Chiron.

He said the company's share price had been "extremely disappointing". "The main reason is that [Queensland Investment Corporation] have been bearing the stock down," he said. "They keep selling, selling, selling. [Their holding has gone from] 5 per cent to 1 per cent."

He said the company would continue to reduce its burn rate, and would focus on the work which was in hand, rather than pursuing further business development. "We have enough in the laboratory and clinic at the moment to keep everyone fully occupied."

Eiffel has six projects underway, according to Hartigan, mainly with American companies who preferred to remain unidentified.

In November 2004, the company opened a facility at Sydney's Macquarie Park for its supercritical fluid re-engineering technology. Although it is not GMP certified, the facility allows Eiffel to provide 'proof of concept' that it can scale up its production processes to manufacture up to 1 kilogram per day of re-engineered drug.

Eiffel's supercritical fluid technology uses highly compressed gases to dissolve normally insoluble compounds, which are then more easily absorbed by the body, and can possibly be delivered transdermally or by inhalation.