Cellcor Inc. announced Wednesday that Michael Osband, thecompany's scientific founder, executive vice president and chieftechnical officer, has resigned. He will remain a consultant anddirector.

This is not a recent development, Osband told BioWorld, butrather a "normal evolution that had been planned for sometime. We wanted to wait until Fred came to pick up the day-to-day load." That's Frederick Miesowicz, former manager ofTerumo Corp.'s (Tokyo) cellular therapy business, who'sbecome Cellcor's senior vice president of scientific affairs.

Osband insisted that his resignation is not related to the recentevents that have generated negative press and lower stockprices for Cellcor. The two are "connected by time, but not bysubstance," Osband told BioWorld.

These events are centered on the Newton, Mass., biotherapeuticcompany's autolymphocyte therapy (ALT).

In August, a former director of Cellcor's Orange, Calif., patienttreatment center claimed that Cellcor had exaggerated ALT'sability to shrink tumors in kidney cancer patients.

Also in August, Cellcor decided to terminate negotiations withCritical Care America (CCA), a network of infusion clinics, tojointly market ALT for renal cell carcinoma at three CCAoutpatient care centers. And in September, a companyshareholder sued Cellcor for "misrepresentation" in its Marchinitial public offering.

Cellcor (NASDAQ:CLTX) sold 2 million shares at $11 a share inits IPO. The company's stock closed Wednesday at $3.25 ashare, up 25 cents for the day.

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