VaxGen Restructures Following Termination of Proposed Merger; Terminates Approximately 75% of Remaining Staff
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 9, 2008 -- VaxGen, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VXGN - News), a biopharmaceutical company, announced that the Company has initiated a restructuring to minimize expenses following the termination of the proposed merger between VaxGen and Raven biotechnologies, inc. VaxGen has moved to terminate the staff which it had retained in anticipation of the needs of the merged company. As a result, VaxGen will be terminating approximately 75% of its remaining staff of 22 persons, including Matthew Pfeffer, the Company's CFO and Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration.
"It is quite unfortunate that VaxGen must now terminate so many of our most capable and loyal staff, including Matt Pfeffer," said James P. Panek, VaxGen President and CEO. "Matt's performance since joining VaxGen in 2006 has been nothing short of outstanding. His talents, both as CFO and as a senior leader, became increasingly obvious as he brought VaxGen current with its financial filing obligations, worked to reduce expenditures and financial liabilities, and contributed notably to our pursuit of strategic initiatives."
"My tenure at VaxGen, while filled with many challenges, has also been marked by many successes and opportunities to work with many remarkable colleagues," said Matthew Pfeffer. "With VaxGen's financial filing obligations now current and the scope of its business greatly reduced, I am confident that VaxGen can ably fulfill all required financial and administrative responsibilities in my absence."
VaxGen's near term plan of action is quite straightforward: reduce staffing and expenses to reflect the realities of not merging with Raven; continue our efforts to sell the Anthrax vaccine program and manufacturing facility, and deal as best we can with our lease obligations; and importantly, reconfigure our board to deal with the future course of the Company. VaxGen is speaking with a number of its largest stockholders in order to get their input, including suggestions for potential new board members, and will be completing this reconfiguration process as expeditiously as possible.
About VaxGen
VaxGen is a biopharmaceutical company based in South San Francisco, California. The company owns a state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility with a 1,000-liter bioreactor that can be used to make cell culture or microbial biologic products. For more information, please visit the company's web site at http://www.vaxgen.com.
Note: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding restructuring of VaxGen, the reconfiguration of its Board of Directors and its continuing efforts to divest assets. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors is contained in VaxGen's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date of this release. VaxGen undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events, or circumstances after the date of this release except as required by law.