Novogen chair-elect steps down suddenly

Novogen (ASX:NRT) chair-elect Iain Ross has stepped down from the board due to an undisclosed conflict of interest.

Ross was last week named the successor to existing chairman Dr Graham Kelly, who had planed to relinquish the role to focus on his responsibilities as CEO.

But the company announced today that Ross has stepped down with immediate effect as a result of an unforeseen conflict of interest.

“It is unfortunate that this unforeseen conflict of interest has arisen as Iain brought a considerable depth of experience to the board,” Kelly said.

“It also means that I will continue in the dual roles of CEO and executive chairman to oversee the transformation of the company into a clinical stage company, bringing our US subsidiary CanTx into a fully functioning clinical-stage company and continuing with our dual ASX and Nasdaq listings.”

CanTx is a joint venture with Yale University focused on commercialising promising chemotherapy candidate Cantrixil. The company is preparing to conduct clinical trials of the drug in ovarian cancer and malignant ascites.

Novogen (ASX:NRT) shares were trading 4.88% higher at $0.086 as of around 1 pm on Thursday.