Peptech ditches CEO hunt

Peptech's worldwide hunt for a new CEO has been abandoned after three of the board members, including its Chairman Dr Ed Tweddell, walked out of the company last week under pressure from angry shareholders.

Stephen Kwik has agreed to continue in his role as managing director of the company, despite his earlier comments that the company needed a new CEO with both a scientific and a business background to take it forward. "The continuity in management will maintain a forward momentum while the board consolidates its plans for the longer term," the company said in a statement to the ASX.

At the same time, a prominent player in the local business community, John Leaver, has been elected a new chairman for the Peptech board. He will join Dr Till Medinger on the company's audit and compliance and the remunerations and nominations committee.

Deutsche bank analyst Kiara Bechta-Metti said that it appeared that Leaver wanted to keep Kwik to maintain the company's path.

She added that Tweddell and the other resigning board members saw the company taking a different path that no longer needed Kwik's services.

Despite the changes in the boardroom, she said "there are lots of Peptech investors that are hanging in there and waiting for the royalty stream from Peptech's D2E7 antibodies. Other investors, however, are saying this is a little too speculative and taking the profits."

Pharma giant Abbott filed for European and US regulatory approval for the rheumatoid arthritis drug, D2E7, last week.

Abbott president Dr Jeffrey Leiden said that D2E7 was one of the most exciting agents to emerge from the company's pipeline.

D2E7, a monoclonal antibody drug, is expected to gain US approval within 12 months, with estimated sales worldwide reaching $US1 billion said the ASX statement.

Meanwhile, the boardroom upheavals have been reflected in Peptech's share price, with huge swings over the past few months.