North West pharma CEO stands down with immediate effect

Evgen Pharma, the AIM-isted clinical stage drug development company, announced this morning that chief executive Dr Stephen Franklin has resigned, with immediate effect.

The business, which has offices in Wilmslow and Liverpool, said that, having led Evgen for more than 12 years he has, with the support of the board, decided to pursue other opportunities.

Barry Clare will become executive chairman on a temporary basis until a new CEO is appointed with the appropriate experience to take Evgen through the next stages of its development.

The company said Barry, together with its strong group of non-executive directors – Susan Clement-Davies, Sue Foden and Alan Barge – will support the executive team on business development and pre-clinical and clinical projects.

Today’s statement said the company remains committed to developing sulforaphane-based medicines for the treatment of breast cancer and multiple other diseases and continues to collaborate with its various hospital and university partners.

The search for a replacement to fill the role is under way and the company will update the market in due course.

Barry Clare said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Steve for all his efforts and his guidance since Evgen’s inception.

“His contribution to the company over the years has been invaluable and we would like to offer our huge thanks for all his support and hard work. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”