Novogen appoints new CSO

It’s a time for reunions at Novogen (ASX:NRT). First, founder Graham Kelly took back the mantle of CEO after a seven-year absence, and now Dr David Brown is returning to the company as CSO.

Brown had been in charge of preclinical testing for Novogen’s oncology drugs between 2000 and 2010, when he left to join Janssen as a medical adviser.

In his new role, Brown will re-assume responsibility for Novogen’s preclinical development programs, including ovarian and brain cancer candidate CS-6, plus the two new recently discovered lead drug candidates with applications in melanoma and pancreatic cancer.

Novogen also announced the appointment of Dr Andrew Heaton as president and CEO of its newly established North American subsidiary, Novogen North America.

Novogen said the new subsidiary has been set up to help facilitate its rapidly expanding R&D and corporate efforts in the US and Europe, and to bring it closer to its US shareholders, who now collectively own around 70% of the company.

Dr Heaton has been overseeing the company’s drug-discovery program and the manufacture of drugs for clinical trials, and will maintain these roles.

Novogen shares were trading 6.06% higher at $0.175 as of around 2 pm on Tuesday.