Arovella Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:ALA, FRA:E4NA) has received a notice under section 249D of the Corporations Act 2001 from a requisitioning shareholder seeking the removal of Dr Michael Baker and Dr Mike Perry as directors.
Following receipt of the notice, Dr Baker resigned as chief executive officer and managing director, with three months’ notice.
Dr Andrew Nash, Dr Debora Barton and Dr Perry have also resigned as directors, effective immediately.
The board has accepted the four resignations and thanked Dr Baker, Dr Nash, Dr Barton and Dr Perry for their contributions to the biotechnology company.
Following the changes, Arovella’s board comprises David Williams, Mark Diamond and Dr Michael Thurn, with Williams appointed chairman.
The board said it was undertaking a comprehensive review of Arovella’s technology platform, development strategy and growth opportunities, and remained optimistic about the company’s near-term prospects.
About Arovella
Arovella is developing an invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell therapy platform licensed from Imperial College London for blood cancers and solid tumours.
Its lead product, ALA-101, comprises CAR19-iNKT cells modified to produce a chimeric antigen receptor targeting CD19, an antigen found on the surface of numerous cancer types.
The therapy also uses iNKT cells containing an invariant T cell receptor that targets glycolipid-bound CD1d, another antigen found on several cancer types.
ALA-101 has had its Investigational New Drug application accepted by the US Food and Drug Administration and is being developed as an allogeneic cell therapy, meaning it can be administered to a patient from a healthy donor.
Arovella is also expanding into solid tumour treatment through CLDN18.2-targeting technology licensed from Sparx Group and plans to incorporate its IL-12-TM technology into its solid tumour programs.