Chief executive of specialist pharmaceutical company, Open Orphan, Trevor Phillips is to leave the firm, it has been announced.
Mr Phillips joined hVIVO three years ago at a critical time for the firm and successfully brought about the restructuring of it, as well as its repositioning.
More recently, he led the company to a merger with Open Orphan and has driven the combined entity since.
"This is an exciting time for Open Orphan, I wish the company well," said Trevor Phillips, CEO of Open Orphan.
"It was an honour to have led hVIVO and its staff through the business turnaround and with the merger completed I leave the company in a stronger position as it enters its next phase of growth."
Mr Phillips will remain in the job until the end of June to ensure an orderly transition, but leaves the board of directors immediately.
Executive Chairman, Cathal Friel, will continue to lead the business alongside a refreshed, focused management team and board, the company said in a statement.
"Firstly, I would like to thank Trevor for his help merging Open Orphan and hVIVO," he said.
"Trevor had previously successfully right sized and focused hVIVO and our refreshed management team is now focused on delivering growth at a very exciting time for the Company."
Open Orphan also announced today that it has signed a new contract with an unnamed US biotechnology company for a human challenge study around respiratory syncytial virus.
It is projected that the study will deliver £3.5 million in revenue this year.
Open Orphan focuses on so-called "orphan drugs" and tests vaccines and antivirals using human challenge study models.
