Hawke steps down from Autogen board

Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke has resigned as a director of Autogen's board, citing heavy business and personal commitments.

Hawke, a non-executive director with the drug development company for the past three years, stepped down from the board on April 30.

Company secretary Peter Lee said Autogen was grateful for the assistance of Australia's 28th prime minister over the past few years.

"The bottom line is that with all the work Bob is doing going back and forth to China for business and the various reviews of the ALP coming up, he just came to us and said he could not keep up the level of work for the board," Lee said.

"It's certainly a loss, but we will have to get by without him. He is still happy to be involved and said that if he could help in the future we could just give him a call."

Lee said there were no plans to replace Hawke in the short term.

Reaction to the announcement was mixed, with some analysts suggesting the loss of Hawke could affect Autogen's bid to expand its business and raise money in the United States.

"US investors would like the fact a company had an ex-PM on the board because it would be a name they had heard of," said one business analyst who declined to be named.

"Theoretically his resignation could decrease the possibility of the company raising money offshore."

But Intersuisse biotech equities analyst Peter Russell doubted Hawke's leaving the board would affect the business at all.

"He has got a very distinguished background with many friends and business colleagues and also has an enormous amount of work to do," Russell said.

"What he was able to add to Autogen was in certain introductions, and I am sure he will continue to assist in doing so.

"But being a director is an onerous job and to move off the board makes sense."

Russell said the move would also make room for someone on the board who had a more relevant industry background.

Deutsche Bank analyst Kiara Bechta-Metti said Hawke's move simply reflected his increased commitment in the political arena over the past year.

"He's influential and has been a vocal spokesperson for the company and he does have connections, which always helps when trying to raise money, but I would not read into it anything negative," Bechta-Metti said.

She said that Hawke's enduring relationship with the company would ensure he remained involved in a less formal role, adding that Autogen was unlikely to suffer in its overseas pursuits because of his absence from its board.

"At the end of the day your technology or other management is what's going to get you funding in the US market," she said.