Novogen CEO to hand over chairman role

Novogen (ASX:NRT) CEO Dr Graham Kelly will step down as chairman at the end of the year to allow him to focus on his executive duties.

In a speech to investors, Kelly said he will hand the chairman role to director Iain Ross, a seasoned company executive with experience in helping drive young companies through their formative years.

With Cantrixil, the promising chemotherapy candidate developed by Novogen-Yale JV CanTx, heading towards the clinic in ovarian cancer and malignant ascites, the company is making changes aimed at allowing the company to better focus on its development, he said.

In line with this, deputy chairman John O’Connor will assume responsibility for raising funds from capital markets to pay for the clinical development.

Novogen recently closed a $1.8 million bookbuild capital raising as part of its funding strategy.

Kelly said the company had hoped to raise more and is “disappointed” in the response. But he noted that it is “a challenging time for biotech, [and] more so when you have a small market cap and are at the pre-clinical phase”.

In related news, Novogen has revealed it has been advised that its NASDAQ listing does not meet the minimum shareholders’ equity requirement required for continued inclusion on the NASDAQ Global Market.

The company has 45 days to submit a plan to regain compliance with the listing rules, and intends to do so. If its proposal is accepted, it will be able to seek a 180-day extension to provide evidence of compliance.

Novogen (ASX:NRT) shares were trading unchanged at $0.120 as of around 1 pm on Wednesday.