The chief executive of a London-listed medical technology firm has resigned following investor efforts to oust both him and the chief financial officer from the company.
Truspine Technologies, which is looking to develop unique spinal medical devices, announced this morning that Laurence Strauss had resigned “with immediate effect” without giving further details.
But Strauss told City A.M. that the decision was an “amicable” one.
“I’ve no axe to grind against the company whatsoever,” he said, adding that the company will likely be looking for someone with greater industry experience to take the company forward.
“It’s got to that stage where I felt that the input that I could give the company wasn’t necessarily going to be as effective going forward as it has been historically,” he said.
Strauss said he was proud of the work he has done since he joined in March last year and was confident the company’s technologies will get approval from the US Food and Drug Administration “in the very near future”.
“I’ve managed to take a company that was dead completely on its feet and turn it into a potential business,” he said. “I’ve achieved, I think, more than I was expected to achieve.”
His resignation comes after City A.M. recently reported that investors were continuing their battle to oust him and the firm’s chief financial officer, Norman Lott, in a bid to turn the company around.
Investors have become increasingly frustrated as the company has failed to make any products since floating on London’s rival stock exchange Acquis in 2020 and it has repeatedly run into financial difficulties.
But Strauss said that the decision was not linked to this campaign.
“I don’t think it’s really a reaction to that,” he said. “Not one of my directors has turned around to me at any time and said, ‘you know, we’ve got these disgruntled shareholders who want you gone… do you think you ought to go?’ That’s never come [into] the discussion.”
He did admit, however, he was “quite worn out from it all”.
“It’s been a tough journey. When you take a company that’s mired in so much bad publicity with disgruntled shareholders, it takes it out of you,” he said.
While Strauss said he will “be assisting for a smooth transition” he doesn’t intend to have any other proper role at the firm going forward.
Geoff Miller, Truspine’s chairman, said in a statement: “I would like to thank Laurence for the work that he has done to progress the company’s development.”
It is unclear when Truspine hopes to appoint a new chief executive.