Epistem boss Walls leaves after seven years
THE chief executive of AIM-listed, Manchester-based company Epistem has been axed after seven years at the helm.
No explanation for his departure was provided in an stock market announcement, but a spokesperson for the company later explained that a more commercial CEO would be sought as Epistem had “reached a transition” after years of development.
“Now was the right time to part”, the spokesperson added.
While a successor is identified, Epistem’s chairman Dr Ian Gilham is stepping in as interim CEO.
Gilham said: “The board would like to thank Matthew for his commitment to Epistem over the past seven years, during which he has been integral to the early development of the company.
“Epistem is at an exciting stage in its development, where its unique molecular diagnostic device Genedrive and tuberculosis test is with KOL’s for commercial launch in India, its initial first target market, with additional tests approaching validation.
“The board looks forward to updating shareholders, in due course, on the process of selecting a high calibre and commercially experienced successor to Matthew.”
Meanwhile Epistems said in a pre-close trading statement for the year o the end of June it has won a key contract with the US Department of Defense.
The company will develop and manufacture its Genedrive device as a “joint handheld Bio-Agent identifier” for the identification of biological warfare agents.
The US Government programme will provide up to $7.8m (£5.0m) in milestone based funding over five years, divided into two phases with the first phase being worth up to $2.4m (£1.5m) for work scheduled to be completed in the current financial year.
Epistem said income over the full year was £4.5m, broadly in line with market expectations. EBITDA losses are expected to be £3.8m, also in line with market expectations and reflecting the increased expenditure leading up to the launch of the Genedrive device. Net cash at 30 June 2015 was £4.9m (2014: £4.2m).
