SkyePharma's chairman resigns

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Jan. 23 - SkyePharma plc said chairman Ian Gowrie-Smith has resigned and will not stand for re-election as a director of the company at SkyePharma's 2006 annual general meeting.

A new chairman will be appointed at the company's next board meeting on Feb. 1.

Gowrie-Smith, who founded SkyePharma in 1996, stepped down from the role of executive chairman to a non-executive chairmanship in 2004. It has been Gowrie-Smith's intention since early 2005 to resign at an appropriate time as chairman and as a director, according to a company news release.

A search for a new chairman was therefore begun in 2005, but was interrupted while the company's board searched for a new chief executive and performed a review of its strategic options, including offers to buy the company.

"I have decided to resign in the interest of all shareholders. This expedites a process that was already ongoing and hopefully will bring to an end the recent acrimonious period and spare shareholders and the company the expense and distraction of an extraordinary general meeting," Gowrie-Smith said in the release.

SkyePharma said on Friday that institutional investors North Atlantic Value LLP, Insight Investment and Morley Fund Management want to replace Gowrie-Smith with a candidate of their own and plan to call for an extraordinary general meeting in order to discuss the proposed replacement.

On Monday, the North Atlantic Value syndicate, which represents a little over 13% of the company's issued share capital, announced their support for corporate executive Bon Thian. He is currently chairman of Southern Water plc and Whatman plc and has worked for GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott Laboratories and Novo Nordisk, according to a syndicate news release.

In its release, the syndicate said they "strongly believe that SkyePharma should not rush to appoint a new chairman other than Bob Thian at its next board meeting."

The company said in its release that it will "strenuously oppose any attempts to force a candidate onto the board."

London-based SkyePharma uses drug-delivery technology to facilitate drug formulation.

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