Cytopia enters Progen squabble

Melbourne biotech Cytopia has entered the fray over the future of Brisbane’s Progen Pharmaceuticals, calling for a spill of the Progen board and an offer to merge the two companies.

Progen’s future has been under a cloud since it decided to discontinue a Phase III trial of its lead candidate PI-88, an anti-angiogenic compound for liver cancer, last year.

The company’s board has been pursuing a merger with Melbourne’s Avexa, which is in Phase III trials of a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor for drug-resistant HIV.

Last week, Progen issued a stock exchange announcement reiterating the board’s support for the Avexa merger and rejecting alternative merger proposals.

Cytopia, an oncology company developing a vascular disrupting agent and JAK inhibitors for haematological disorders, has joined with other shareholders in a bid to remove the current Progen board and install three new directors, including former Bio-Diem CEO Tom Williams.

Progen shareholders were unsuccessful in a bid earlier this month to dislodge the current board.

Cytopia said it had joined with the dissident shareholders to urge the spill. The combined group holds over 50 per cent of shares in the company.