Thursday, June 12, 2008

Indevus Pharma CEO retracts plan to retire

By Mass High Tech Staff

Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported that its chief executive, Glen Cooper, has nixed his plans to retire this year due to expected delays in the U.S. approval of the firm’s testosterone drug Nebido.

Cooper, chairman and CEO of Lexington-based Indevus (Nasdaq: IDEV), announced in March that he planned to retire by Sept. 1, 2008, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Nebido. Last week the company revealed that it expected the FDA to request additional safety data on Nebido, delaying the potential approval of the drug by two years. 

“I feel a profound responsibility to all our stakeholders to improve the prospects of the company as rapidly as possible, and it is not an optimal time to bring a new CEO on board,” Cooper said in a statement.

Also, Indevus President and COO Thomas Farb and Kurt Lewis, senior vice president of sales and marketing, plan to resign from the company as part of a management realignment, according to Indevus. The company said it has replaced Lewis with Nancy Bryan, formerly vice president of global marketing at Indevus.  

Indevus, which markets such products as Sanctura for overactive bladder syndrome and prostate cancer drug Vantas, reported a 2007 net loss of $103.8 million on revenue of $66.1 million. The company employs 251 workers.