AVI Biopharma’s Chief Science Officer To Resign

Drug developer AVI Biopharma Inc. said Thursday that Chief Scientific Officer Peter Linsley will resign from the company on June 1.

AVI did not disclose a reason for Linsley’s departure or name a replacement.

AVI Biopharma is a development stage company, and it has no products on the market. On April 2 the company said its most advanced drug candidate, the experimental muscular dystrophy treatment eteplirsen, met its main goal in a mid-stage clinical trial. Patients who took eteplirsen had a significant increase in the protein that strengthens skeletal muscle. However the drug did not help patients walk, and AVI shares fell 27.9 percent, from $1.54 to $1.11.

The stock rose 3 cents, or 2.8 percent, to close at $1.10. It lost 6 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $1.04 in after-hours trading.

See the company’s SEC filing here.