The Novacyt SA (LON: NCYT) share price fell 7.1% after the surprise departure of its CEO David Allmond with immediate effect. David also stepped down from the Company’s Board to pursue other business interests.
Most investors consider the sudden departure of top company executives as bad for the Company. As a result, they may start asking questions about what could be happening at the firm to trigger such a sudden move by a top-ranking executive.
A question posed by most analysts is, “why couldn’t the executive forego the other business opportunities and choose to stay with their current company?” This is a valid question, which usually leaves many speculating that the Company is in a bad position or that the executive who left might have done something wrong.
Either way, we will never know if there were other reasons behind Allmond’s departure apart from his pursuit of other business opportunities. Accordingly, the Company’s Board promoted James McCarthy, the current Chief Financial Officer, to Acting CEO until a successor is appointed.
James Wakefield, Novacyt’s Non-Executive Chairman, commented: “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Dave for his focus on helping to formulate a post-COVID-19 strategy for the Company and wish him well in his future endeavours. We will continue to progress this strategy to become a leading, global clinical diagnostics company in the fight against infectious diseases.”
Before his departure, David Allmond had successfully led the Company to secure the approval of its genesig® Real-Time PCR SARS-CoV-2 Winterplex® 3G assay panel (Winterplex® 3G) in the UK under the UK Health Security Agency’s Medical Devices (Coronavirus Test Device Approvals) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (CTDA).
The approval came just in time for the upcoming winter season in the Northern Hemisphere allowing the Company to sell its Winterplex® 3G assay panel in the UK. The test allows healthcare providers to differentiate between common respiratory infections with similar symptoms.
*This is not investment advice.
Novacyt share price.
The Novacyt share price fell 7.10% to trade at 67.58p, falling from Wednesday’s closing price of 72.74p.