Sutton resigns from Polartechnics board
Wednesday, 16 March, 2005
Richard Opara has completed step one in his plan for Sydney device company Polartechnics (ASX:PLT), installing himself as chairman today, after Ventracor CEO Colin Sutton resigned from the position, ending a three week board tussle.
Opara has also appointed the new American chief executive of his other biotech play AustCancer (ASX:ACU), Len Firestone, as a non-executive director of Polartechnics. Non-executive director Glenn Rosewall has also resigned, and Robert Hunter, a principal at Sydney-based accounting firm Ure Lynam & Co has also been appointed as non-executive director.
Opara became a substantial shareholder -- with 12.76 per cent of the company's shares - in mid-Feburary. At the time, he said, Polartechnics had no other substantial shareholders. Opara is also a 19.57 per cent shareholder and non-executive chairman at AustCancer (ASX:ACU).
Polartechnics is commercialising screening systems for detection of skin and cervical cancer as well as an image, video and patient data management system, and has steadily declined in value since it reached its peak share price of more than AUD$6.00 in February 2000.
Opara today said that Australian biotechnology companies were 'sleeping giants'. He believes the only way for both AustCancer and Polartechnics to realise their potential is for them to be based in thick of the American market: "Both companies will move to America," he said today.
Shares in the company remained unchanged today at $0.34.
Mouth bacteria linked to increased head and neck cancer risk
More than a dozen bacterial species that live in people's mouths have been linked to a...
Life expectancy gains are slowing, study finds
Life expectancy at birth in the world's longest-living populations has increased by an...
Towards safer epilepsy treatment for pregnant women
New research conducted in organoids is expected to provide pregnant women with epilepsy safer...