Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (SPPI)
There seems to be some spring cleaning going on in the boardroom at Spectrum. Two of the old-timers (one of which was Mark Glasky - the son) had some 45.000 worth of old debt (each) forgiven against the surrender of shares worth about 1.600 USD (in total). The shares were subsequently cancelled. So now there are 800 shares less. And a new director filed a Form 3 today (holding no shares and no debt).
Well, anyhow. The interesting is not so much that they finally seem to have cut the ties to the Glasky clan. It's more about who the new guy is. The question is of course what one may read into new board appointees. If they are good I suppose it is good to have them at the table.
The new recruit is Julius A. Vida, Ph.D., M.B.A. He sits on a couple of biotech boards already. From one of them I borrowed the following.
YM BIOSCIENCES ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF DR. JULIUS VIDA TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MISSISSAUGA, Canada – (September 24, 2001) – YM BioSciences Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Julius A. Vida, Ph.D., M.B.A. to its Board of Directors.
Dr. Vida was Vice President, Business Development, Licensing and Strategic Planning for Bristol Myers, a position which concluded a 35 year career as an international pharmaceutical industry executive. He is currently the President of Vida International Pharmaceutical Consultants, advising biotechnology companies. In addition to his capacity as an advisor to the biotechnology industry, he is on the board of directors of Medarex, Inc., Orphan Medical, Inc., ALS, Inc., Consensus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., FibroGen, Inc., OsteoScreen, Inc. and SWITCH Biotech AG, Inc. of Germany.
”Dr. Vida’s depth of experience and breadth of relationships in the pharmaceutical industry, together with his understanding of development stage companies, which he has been advising since his days at Bristol Myers, brings an invaluable resource to the board of YMB,” commented David G.P. Allan, Chairman and CEO of YM BioSciences Inc.
YM BioSciences Inc., a Canadian company incorporated in 1994, develops innovative cancer therapeutics. It partners with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, as well as with drug discovery organizations and academic institutes, to develop cancer applications of their novel agents and technologies. Products are in-licensed and taken through the development process including regulatory affairs and clinical research toward preparation for regulatory approval.
So, there is a lot of experience in licensing. Better to have him on the board than to have to pay him as a consultant, I guess. Note that he is still another ex-BMY employee joining the lot surrounding Raj & Luigi. Apart from that he was evidently engaged for about a year (1999) at the board of Supergen, while Raj et. al. were employed at that company.
Erik |
