Germany's Wilex is emptying its pockets of drug candidates, giving 5 once-promising cancer treatments back to partner UCB as it pares down to stay alive.
The biotech will relinquish its rights to the mid-stage WX-554 and WX-037 and give back three preclinical antibody therapies, terminating a separate, non-oncology development deal with UCB in the process, Wilex said. The company will get a final undisclosed R&D payment from its soon-to-be-ex-collaborator, and UCB has agreed to waive repayment a €2.5 million ($3.4 million) term loan, sparing the cash-strapped Wilex from further loss.
The hand-off is part of a strategic alignment that saw Wilex cut 80% of its staff in January, kicking off a tiered exit from all clinical activity. The plan is sell off or out-license all of its proprietary assets and focus on its revenue-generating Heidelberg Pharma subsidiary, which provides preclinical CRO services and rents out Wilex's antibody-drug conjugate technology.
In March, Wilex found a home for its Phase II pancreatic and breast cancer treatment Mesupron, signing a deal with China's Link Health that could bring in as much as €7 million ($9.6 million). The biotech is still holding on to Rencarex, a renal cell carcinoma treatment that failed a Phase III study in late 2012, holding out hope it can find a partner or acquirer willing to further develop the drug, something Wilex can't afford.
The company said it has held "intensive talks" with would-be partners for Rencarex and the in-vivo diagnostic Redectane, but to no avail. Co-founder and CEO Olaf Wilhelm stepped down in March after about 17 years with the company, replaced by CFO Jan Schmidt-Brand.
Wilex, a Fierce 15 honoree back in 2005, was originally launched with the help of German billionaire Dietmar Hopp.
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