Sigma Pharmaceuticals CEO Quits

The CEO of Sigma Pharmaceuticals(SIP), Elmo de Awis, who worked for the company for more than 33 years has quit as a result of a $500 million goodwill write down earlier this month which kept the SIP's share price at record lows. The chairman, John Stocker and CFO Mark Smith are under pressure to join join the CEO in resigning.

The CEO stayed on for 16 days after the fallout of the $389 million full year net loss. The chairman, Dr Stocker (also a director for Nufarm, CSIRO and Telstra) thanked the CEO for his work in a statement to the stock exchange.

Sigma has a merger with Arrow Pharmaceuticals in 2005 - the deal was a big contributor to the $424 million losses for the full year results which eliminated any of Sigma's profit. Arrow Pharmaceuticals was in the generic business and recorded a loss of $375.1 million and is facing changing regulatory issues and increased competition.