New York’s Mela Sciences (NSDQ:MELA) is putting a new face in the corner office, with former Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) OTC/nutritionals group chairman Rose Crane this week taking the title of president & CEO and joining the board of directors.
Crane most recently worked at Appletree Partners, assessing lifesciences products for the company’s portfolio, and was formerly president & CEO of Epocrates (NSDQ:EPOC).
She joins the company at a delicate time. In June longtime CEO Joseph Gulfo resigned his post after 9-years leading the company, and in early August the company cut 25% of its staff following disappointing Q2 results. Mela in September got a de-listing warning from the NASDAQ Stock Market, which warned that the company must get its share’s above $1 to remain listed on the exchange.
Crane is taking over for interim CEO Robert Coradini, who will assume the chairman role and provide "ongoing active consulting" for Mela. Current chairman David Stone will go back to his previous director role, according to a company statement.
Mela also posted deepening losses amid an impressive spike in revenue during its 3rd quarter. Losses grew to $7.4 million, or 17¢ per share, on sales of $107,700 during the 3 months ended September 30. That compared with losses of $5.4 million, or 17¢ per share, on sales of $69,100 during the same period last year. Per-share losses were 7¢ deeper than analysts had projected.