Shares of Regulus Therapeutics (RGLS) tanked as much as 16% on June 2, 2015 after the company reported the departure of the CEO and President George C. Xanthopoulos. For now temporarily Paul Grint who had previously served as Chief medical Officer for the company, will now fill the role as the new CEO and President.

Xanthopoulos states that he is leaving to pursue investment opportunities in the biotechnology industry. Although this drop today seems as if investors are a little skeptical for this sudden departure. This is especially true as the company's microRNA RG-101 therapy for hepatitis C is slated to release results before year end as a potential 4-week therapy. 

Investors should be cautious though because in 2006 Xanthopoulos had left a biotech company he founded and ran for many years Anadys Pharmaceuticals to join a Venture Capital firm. The problem was that two weeks after his departure announcement from Anadys, the company reported that it had to halt the hepatitis C trial due too safety problems. 

Maybe now investors believe that this may yet be another cycle of problems where Xanthopoulos is abandoning ship right before a major announcement. Xanthopoulos stated though that he had no clue of the safety results before his departure from Anadys. There is good reason to see why investors may yet again be skeptical for this sudden call of a departure right before major results for Regulus. 

Regulus is a risky investment at this point because a lot of the value resides on the potential for the company's hepatitis C pipeline. Although the flip side is that there may be additional value if any of the partnerships with Glaxosmithkline (GSK), Sanofi (SNY), or Astrazeneca (AZN) do end up working out. Although those programs are at earlier stages in clinical development so for now all hopes are residing in the upcoming hepatitis C results due out before year end.