Less than a month after seeing its lead drug candidate go down in flames in a late-stage trial, Keryx Biopharmaceuticals announced plans to restructure, chopping its work force in half as it reduces the company's burn rate. Keryx announced that it will have 25 full- and part-time workers when the restructuring is complete.
Keryx's plans include continuing R&D for Zerenex but cutting 12 of 20 early-stage trials of KRX-0401, delaying a late-stage trial of KRX-0401, terminating a licensing deal and closing offices in San Francisco and Memphis as well as its manufacturing site in Wisconsin. And in pursuit of new capital, Keryx has begun to hunt out new partnerships, strategic alliances and "product-specific financing alternatives." Keryx ended the first quarter of this year with about $50 million.
Keryx's troubles crystallized last month with the late-stage failure of the diabetes drug Sulonex. Sulonex, which Keryx dumped at the end of March, worked no better than a placebo in a pivotal clinical trial.
- check out the press release
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