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VANCOUVER - DJohnson Holdings Inc. said Thursday it has acquired voting control over a 15 per cent stake in Migenix Inc. (TSX:MGI) and wants to replace the company's board and management.

"In the company's view, the current board and management team have consistently failed to act in the best interests of shareholders and have lost credibility through their chronic failure to achieve their stated goals," DJohnson Holdings said in a statement.

The company said it would ask for a shareholder meeting to remove a majority of the directors and replace them with its own nominees including Douglas Johnson, who indirectly holds a five per cent stake in Migenix.

In May, Migenix cut a half-dozen people from its workforce, cut its chief executive's salary by 40 per cent and trimmed its board of directors as it preserves cash ahead of a key clinical result on its Omigard anti-infection drug.

Migenix reduced it staff to 28 from 34 as it moved to reduce its annualized cash burn rate by $1.5 million to $8 million or less.

Migenix had $3.1 million in expenses and no revenue in its latest reported quarter, ending on Jan. 31 with $1.9 million in cash and $6.1 million in short-term investments.

Shares in Migenix closed up a penny at 25 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday.