WEB NEWS CFO Trail
SAN DIEGO, April 9, 2012 /PRNewswire / -- Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPTR) ("the Company" or "Optimer") today announced its Board of Directors has appointed Hank McKinnellas its new Chairman. Dr. McKinnell was previously appointed Lead Independent Director at the February 29, 2012 Board meeting. The Company also announced that Kurt Hartman � who currently serves as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Senior Vice President � has been appointed acting CFO and a search for a permanent CFO has commenced.
The appointments were made after the Optimer Board of Directors removed Dr. Michael Chang as Chairman and terminated John D. Prunty, Chief Financial Officer, and Dr. Youe-Kong Shue, Vice President. The Board, excluding Dr. Chang, unanimously approved the personnel changes. The Company said that Dr. Chang remains as a Director of the Company, but that the Board has requested his resignation.
The changes are not expected to materially impact the Company's revenues or operations, including the commercialization and launch of DIFICID�, but were related to certain lapses in corporate governance practices and the Company's relationship with Optimer Biotechnology, Inc. ("OBI"), its 43%-owned independent, Taiwanese-based affiliate.
Separately, the Company announced that, based upon preliminary results, it expects to report gross revenues of approximately$16.45 million for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of approximately 36% over gross revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011.
Dr. Chang's removal as Chairman resulted from the Board's views as to his actions in his capacity as Optimer's representative on the Board of Directors of OBI as well as his failure to identify and effectively manage compliance, record keeping and conflict of interest issues in connection with OBI's grant to Dr. Chang, potentially for the benefit of a third party, of 1.5 million shares of OBI. The terminations of Mr. Prunty and Dr. Shue were related to the belief of Optimer's Independent Directors that both individuals failed to follow proper procedures when they became aware of the issues related to the issuance of the OBI shares to Dr. Chang.
The Company said it has disclosed the matter to the relevant U.S. authorities and is cooperating with those authorities in reviewing the matter.
Optimer's Board has determined to remove Dr. Chang from OBI's Board of Directors and to appoint Dr. McKinnell to replace Dr. Chang as Optimer's representative on the OBI Board.
Dr. McKinnell stated, "Clearly, we are disappointed that we had to take these actions. However, the Board believes they reflect the importance to the Company of good corporate governance practices and that they are in the best interests of the Company and its
Comments & Business Outlook
Fourth Quarter 2011 Results
Total revenues for the fourth quarter 2011 were $64.6 million , compared with $156,000 for the fourth quarter 2010.
Net income for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $13.4 million, or $0.29 and $0 .28 per share on a basic and diluted basis, respectively, as compared to a net loss for the fourth quarter of 2010 of $11.9 million, or ( $0.31 ) per share, on both a basic and diluted basis.
"2011 was a highly successful year that saw the FDA approval and U.S. launch of DIFICID as well as European approval. The early launch is highly impactful and we believe interest in DIFICID from physicians, payors and hospitals, coupled with the benefit it can provide patients, will translate into robust growth in product adoption and sales as the launch matures," said Pedro Lichtinger , Optimer's President and CEO. "In 2012 we are starting a series of additional initiatives to support further growth, including a focus on the Long Term Care market, improving access, initiating clinical trials intended to expand our label, and entering new markets including Europe through our collaboration with Astellas and Canada through a direct commercialization effort."
