* Says former Pfizer CEO Hank McKinnell to be new chairman
* Names Kurt Hartman as acting CFO
* Shares fall 7 pct
(Adds details, share movement)
April 9 (Reuters) – Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc
fired its chairman, finance chief and vice president citing
lapses in corporate governance practices related to the
company’s relationship with its Taiwanese affiliate, sending its
shares down 7 percent.
The maker of diarrhea drug Dificid, removed its co-founder
Michael Chang for his actions as Optimer’s representative on the
board of Optimer Biotechnology Inc (OBI), its 43 percent-owned
independent affiliate based in Taiwan.
Optimer said the grant of 1.5 million OBI shares to Chang,
potentially for the benefit of a third party, represented a
conflict of interest and pointed to Chang’s “failure to identify
and effectively manage compliance (and) record keeping.”
Optimer was not immediately available for comment.
The company’s chief financial officer John Prunty and vice
president Youe-Kong Shue were fired as they failed to follow
proper procedures when they learnt of the OBI shares issue,
Optimer said in a statement.
The company said it has disclosed the matter to the relevant
U.S. authorities and is cooperating with them in their review.
Hank McKinnell, former Pfizer Inc chief executive,
who was appointed Optimer’s lead independent director in
February, replaces Chang as chairman.
Chang remains a director of the company, but the board has
asked for his resignation, Optimer said.
Optimer named Kurt Hartman, currently general counsel, chief
compliance officer and senior vice president, as acting CFO and
said it has begun looking for a permanent finance chief.
The company, which is to report first-quarter results on May
3, said it expects gross quarterly revenue of $16.5 million.
The company’s shares, which have gained a fifth of their
value in the last three months, were trading down 7 percent at
$13.26 on Monday on the Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Balaji Sridharan in Bangalore; Editing by Viraj
Nair, Roshni Menon)
