The CEO of troubled MedTech TruSpine Technologies Plc has resigned from the role.
Ian Roberts will continue as an employee, said the company, while Laurence Strauss has been appointed acting managing director.
The medical device company, which is based at London Gatwick Airport and focused on the spinal stabilisation market, has been waiting for a £200,000 bridging loan, agreed at the start of the year, to arrive from an unnamed UK investment group.
“The company continues to carefully manage its working capital and its financial position remains weak and is dependent on the goodwill of its creditors to continue trading,” it said in a statement a week ago.
There is no indication that the bridging loan has arrived.
TruSpine said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange that it has secured another £200,000 loan from another unnamed source. The change in leadership at the top may be connected to this, although this has not been confirmed by the company.
It said that upon repayment of the loan, it will issue new shares in the company.
Incoming acting MD Laurence Strauss is a non-board appointment. He started his career in 1986 working in the City and built a private client broking business before serving as a director of an electrical contracting business and overseeing its expansion.
More recently, Strauss has advised private clients on equity investments and initial public offerings.
TruSpine is aiming to commercialise Cervi-LOK, a screw-free spinal stabilisation system, in 2023. The device aims to minimise the risk of vertebral artery injury which can cause brainstem stroke or nerve root and spinal cord injury.
The listed firm cited supply chain issues and external issues around testing as a reason for delays to securing FDA clearance in the United States last year. The company’s loss before taxation for the six months to 30th September 2022 was £545k.
The original £200,000 bridging loan and letter of intent for £2.4 million of equity investment, to follow in three tranches following repayment of the loan, were signed at the start of the year. However TruSpine said last week that it expected the first tranche of investment to arrive before March, alongside the bridging loan.