Early Thursday morning, OxiGENE Inc came up with an announcement that its Chief Executive Officer, John A. Kollins has resigned from his position with the Company and also as a member of the Board of Directors in order to pursue other interests. Soon after the news was out in the market, shares of OxiGENE dropped but later on it bounced back to $1.36 in the afternoon trading. OxiGENE is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and eye diseases. The company mainly focuses on the development of vascular disrupting agents (VDA) that selectively disrupts abnormal blood vessels associated with solid tumor progression and visual impairment.

In the absence of the top leading position, Dr. Peter Langecker who is currently the Vice President and Chief Development Officer of OxiGENE Inc will serve as Interim Chief Executive Officer while the Company will search for the permanent replacement for Mr. Kollins.

Chairman of OxiGENE’s Board of Directors, William N. Shiebler commented on behalf of the Board of Directors that they would like to thank Mr. Kollins for his dedicated service and contributions to OxiGENE and would like to wish him success in his new endeavors.