3D bioprinting firmBICO’sboard has thrown its weight behind the company’s under-fire CEO Erik Gatenholm after mismanagement allegations being raised against him by a former employee and anonymous sources.
在2022年4月27日发表的一篇文章中，古斯滕·丹尼尔斯（Gusten Danielsson）告诉报纸达根斯工业公司（Dagens Industri）Gatenholm “was no longer the right CEO对于公司而言，”辞去首席财务官后不久。从那以后，该公司的股票暴跌了41％，现在一位匿名消息人士称，BICO的首席执行官被指控对员工进行“情感滥用爆发”，但董事会坚定地继续支持他。
“Due to speculations, we on the Board of Directors want to make it clear that we are fully united behind the CEO, the management team and the strategy with focus on profitability,” said Carsten Browall, Chairman of BICO’s Board of Directors. “The company has great potential and is now entering an important stage for the future.”
当由3D印刷行业与指控做出回应时，BICO发表了一份回收说明，重申了董事会仍然在Gatenholm先生后面，并重申其对“以盈利能力为中心的战略”的更广泛承诺。
The allegations against Gatenholm
BICO’s PR nightmare began amid a reported feud between Gatenholm and Danielsson last week, which saw the latter resign his position. However, while BICO labelled the decision a “necessary and natural change in strategy,” Danielsson went to the press, claiming that while he hadn’t sold his shares, he blamed Gatenholm for the firm’s poor stock performance, and didn’t see him as the right man to be CEO.
With the company’s share price beginning to fall further, 3D Printing Industry then received a tip-off from a source, who claimed to have insider information on additional allegations against Gatenholm. In fact, the source says the belief that BICO’s current CEO is unfit to run the company is actually widely-held across the firm, but as he has a controlling stake, “there’s little anyone can do to stop him.”
They also allege that BICO has engaged in “mass layoffs” since January, including “cutting the marketing, design engineering and communications teams,” and accuse Gatenholm of personally forcing staff to positively review their experience of working there.
消息人士解释说：“有人抱怨他的管理风格，导致员工当场辞职。”“如果您看Glassdoor，您可以看到一些负面评论，以及Erik迫使员工写作的一些假评论。”雷竞技在线登录
While it’s unclear if this source is a disgruntled BICO employee, investor or otherwise, their claims around the firm’s restructuring appear justified. The company is reported to have made at least 23 comms-related layoffs, and with the likes of Qi Huan Sng and Mikael Engblom also being appointed the business’ new APAC Marketing Manager and temporary CFO, it has undergone an internal shake-up.
In response to these allegations, BICO’s Chief People Officer Erica Bell said there had been “no mass layoffs at the organization.” Rather, Bell insists that the company “carried out a restructuring” in Q4 2021, which saw certain positions at BICO become obsolete. This, in turn, saw affected staff being offered replacement or reassignment, Bell adds, but some chose to reject these offers.
A costly public dispute for BICO
Prior to Danielsson’s resignation, BICO’s share price stood at $16.54, but the public nature of the dispute that followed has proven costly, as of Tuesday seeing this fall to $9.77. BICO’s setback has also changed what had been a story of expansion for the firm, in which it sought to foster ‘bioconvergence,’ buying other biotechnology firms with the aim of harnessing synergies, into a far more negative one.
Over the last year or so, BICO hasacquired the MatTek Corporation,bought Nanoscribe for €50 million和以8000万欧元的价格购买了Scienion在其投资组合的其他添加中。3D印刷行业的匿名消息人士称，正是这些“伟大的公司/员工”是其当前情况的“真正的受害者”，因为他们的“命运与一家运营的公司相关”。
However, while BICO’s share price decline reflects the reputational damage Danielsson’s exit has caused it to suffer, it’s not the first time the firm has found its name being dragged through the mud. In August 2021, it became clear thatOrganovowas seeking royalties from BICO firm CELLINK, alleging that it had sold technologies relating to the ‘3D printing of tissues and drug development,’ which relied upon its IP.
At the time, CELLINK told 3D Printing Industry that these claims were “invalid,” but despite this, it chose to settle what had turned into a string of lawsuits and counter-suits, by许可Organovo的技术in March 2022. Given that until the agreement, Organovo had begun to struggle in finding new sources of revenue, the deal was viewed as a success by its investors, which sent its shares soaring 53%.
Bioprinting’s lucrative potential
Although the recent collapse in BICO’s share price represents a setback in its quest for bioconvergence, there’s no doubt that it remains a leader in a 3D bioprinting field, with a potentially highly-lucrative future that’s attractive to investors.
Earlier this year, regenerative medicine start-up愈合形状设法筹集了680万美元3D生物打印患者特异性乳房植入物. Made from patients’ own living cells, the firm’s tissues are being designed to treat those women who have undergone a mastectomy procedure after breast cancer.
Similarly, albeit at a larger scale, industry stalwarts like3D系统还在开发自己的3D生物打印产品中耕种大量资源。宣布了Print to Perfusion breakthroughearly last year, thecompany opted to buy Volumetric Biotechnologiesin a deal that could be worth up to $400 million, and has since enabled it to expand its bioprinting research.
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Featured image shows BICO CEO Erik Gatenholm. Photo via the Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce.
