Some changes in the management team:
- Dr, Elliot Bourk promoted from VP of Business & Corporate Development to Chief Business Officer
- Dr. Syed Rizvi is leaving the company as a Chief Medical Officer after Jan 2022 (as someone that has worked in pharma/biotech recruitment - Dr. Rizvi handed in his notice 3-6 months prior to Jan 2022, and CHM is probably in the process of finalising a new hire for their CMO or they've found someone and are just waiting for them to serve their notice period.)
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/mouranos/ if you want to know CHM's recruiter - it's here. He recruits for multiple biotech companies and has recruited for establish biotechs such as, Allogene Therapeutics and Kite Pharma.
- Head of Clinical Development will be created and be recruited for.
The resignation of Dr. Syed Rizvi negative news that the market will react to as the management team has been the strength of CHM. Though if any of the IMU holders remember, IMU changed CMO's sometime last year and it did not have a big effect in the share price so we'll see how this goes.
With that said, I think Dr. Syed Rizvi's departure maybe driven by the companies shift in strategy from CAR-T to CAR-NK and shift from haematological cancers to solid tumours - which are none of his immediate expertise. Dr. Rizvi's expertise has always been in CAR-T and haematological tumours. He has only worked on 2 non-biologic drugs that treated solid tumours (Renal cell carcinoma and breast cancer). Found this list on Dr. Syed Rizvi's LinkedIn profile.
I could be wrong - he may not believe in the company anymore and see a risk in any of the programs, that could also be a possibility but we will never know for sure. We can ask during the next meeting, but doubt they can disclose a lot of things.
I do not think he was pushed out, I think he was signed on a contract basis (12 months), and had the opportunity to either renew the contract or end the contract after 12 months, and decided to pursue other opportunities which there are heaps in the CAR-T & Haematological space in the US.
(20min delay)