Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc.'s principal executive is stepping down but will help an executive consultant brought in to guide the company's long-sought turn to growth, representatives said.
The company hired G2G Ventures, a private equity firm founded by a biotech veteran, as a consultant to support the executive team and help land financing Navidea needs for its "aggressive growth plans," according to a release.
"We see a ton of promise and potential," Theodore Gerbick, chief marketing officer of G2G, said in an interview.
Michael Rosol, Navidea's chief medical officer since December 2018, steps down as of April 10, according to a regulatory filing. He decided to leave as the company seeks to bring a second drug to market, said Joe Meyer, director of finance and accounting.
"Mike has been integral to helping navigate the current stage of where the company is," Meyer told Columbus Inno.
Erika Eves, who had been vice president of finance and administration, also left March 31 in a departure that was announced earlier. Navidea has not had a CEO since November 2021.
The Dublin biotech is in the final phase of human trials for its diagnostic imaging drug for rheumatoid arthritis – Rosol has called early results promising. Once that study is complete, Navidea will apply for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.
"There is a large unmet need for a reliable early predictor of whether a therapy is working on a patient's rheumatoid arthritis, and identify early when patients are not responding," Rosol had said when presenting year-end results last month. "The data we're bringing to the table so far are significantly better than anything out there."
Rosol had advanced the company's science and the new focus is on developing market growth with the experienced G2G team, Navidea Chairman Alex Cappello said in the release.
Navidea has been developing its biochemical platform since 2014: a molecular chain it calls manocept, which is attracted to a protein on the surface of certain white blood cells when they are in an inflammatory response. On that backbone the company proposes adding various payloads for targeted diagnostics and therapeutics.
"I continue to be extremely enthusiastic about the science and potential of the manocept platform to create positive impact in both the therapeutic and diagnostic spaces," Rosol said in the release. He will continue on a contract basis with the company.
Navidea posted a $17.2 million loss on $66,000 revenue in 2022 and ended the year with $2 million cash on hand as it enters this final push with the arthritis drug. If approved, the company projects annual sales of $41 million.
The company has brought another diagnostic aid to market, but sold the North American marketing rights for a lump sum of $83 million to Cardinal Health Inc. and does not get revenue from it.
Jason Myers, founder of G2G in Boulder, Colorado, has founded and led biotech companies to acquisition, including being brought in to a troubled one.
Myers, who has a doctorate in molecular pharmacology, founded ArcherDx, a genomics and cancer technology company, which was acquired in 2020 for about $1.4 billion in cash and stock, sister publication Denver Business Journal reported.
In early 2021, he was hired to replace the ousted CEO of GenapSys, a San Francisco startup trying to build a portable, affordable DNA sequencer. He had to lead a recall of the devices and take the company through bankruptcy, then was named CEO of the new entity formed by GenapSys investors that bought its assets, the San Francisco Business Times reported.
G2G's executive director, Joshua Wilson, joined Navidea's board of directors in September, according to the company proxy.
Navidea pays G2G $50,000 per month in the one-year consulting agreement, according to a regulatory filing. The duties include developing one-, three- and five-year strategies, supporting management and employees, coordinating board and investor presentations, such as earnings calls, and developing a formal investor relations department.
“We have deep expertise in translating technologies into differentiated products, in building infrastructure and rigorous process, and in commercial strategies that drive new market development," Myers said in the release. "We are eager to partner with Navidea to bring their under-appreciated technology and assets to the forefront.”
