Acambis chief executive Gordon Cameron and finance director David Lawrence have agreed to quit amid a wide-ranging restructuring programme to cut costs by a fifth.

The group named Ian Garland to replace Mr Cameron, who had been with the British vaccines maker for a decade. He joins in June from Arrow Therapeutics, which was bought by AstraZeneca for $150 million in June.

Mr Lawrence will leave the company immediately, to be replaced by Elizabeth Brown, currently vice president of financial management and company secretary, as acting CFO.

The surprise departures were accompanied with news of wide range restructuring designed to re-focus the group on key programmes and core operations. As a result the company’s 260 headcount will be reduced by about 15 per cent.

The reorganisation will cost £3 million in 2007, and costs will be cut by about £7 milion a year, with first full year savings in 2008.

Analysts said Acambis was now likely to become a takeover target for a larger pharmaceutical company.

Chris Redhead, of Nomura Code Securities, said: "[The restructuring] won’t come as too much of a surprise, there was a desperate need to restructure.”

Valued at about £400 million six years ago, Acambis’ shares are trading at about six-year lows, and has a market value of £130 million.

The company suffered a severe blow late last year when it was ruled out of the running for a key contract from the US Government to supply a weakened version of its smallpox vaccine for the national stockpile.

That prompted concern the company would have to ask shareholders for cash to fund its research programme, which includes a handful of vaccines in development for illnesses such as West Nile fever and Clostridium difficile.

Acambis said today that it will now seek development partners for its jabs when they reach phase II, to help fund the final more expensive set of trials.

Last month its Japanese encephalitis vaccine was partnered with Sanofi Pasteur. The shot is in the final stage of trials.

Shares in Acambis climbed 8.5p to 128p in afternoon deals.

Following the news, Bridgewell, the broker, maintained its "buy" recommendation on the stock, and fair value of 146p, saying it believes that Acambis’ technology platform is an attractive asset, in terms of a base for further acquisitions, and as a potential acquisition in its own right.

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