The board of FuturaGene, which owns patents for genetically modifying plants for survival in harsh conditions, has given chief executive Bruno Ruggiero the boot after a two-month internal review. The company lost half its value over the last year or so, making the environment at the company harsh for organisms of any sort.

Kannan Grant, acting chief executive since the review was initiated, will continue in the position until a successor who can withstand the atmosphere at Futura is found.
Peter Toynton has simultaneously been bedded down in the non-executive director spot, bringing ‘both his financial expertise and a wide business experience of growing and quoted companies’ to the party, having formerly been finance director of Tempus Group and non-executive chairman of Poulter Group and SBS Group.