Israeli biotech Macrocure ($MCUR) posted another clinical failure for its blood cell-derived regenerative medicine, a final blow that has management pondering how to move forward with what cash the company has left.
Macrocure's treatment, CureXcell, failed to make a difference in wound healing for patients with diabetic foot ulcers in a Phase III trial, the company said, also missing all of its secondary goals in the study. The treatment, which uses white blood cells to speed up tissue regeneration, previously failed a Phase III trial in venous leg ulcers, leaving Macrocure with no clinical programs to fall back on.
The latest setback sent Macrocure's stock price down about 65% on Wednesday morning, plunging the biotech's market cap to around $30 million. The negative results in venous leg ulcers, reported in August, had already taken nearly 80% off of Macrocure's value.
With back-to-back failures for CureXcell, Macrocure is planning to "determine the potential ongoing merits of the underlying technology," CEO Nissim Mashiach said in a statement. In the meantime, Macrocure "will analyze all strategic options for the company and continue to focus on managing and conserving our existing cash," he said.
The company had about $30 million in cash as of Sept. 30, with no debt to report.
Macrocure pulled off a $54 million IPO last year on the promise of CureXcell, at the time planning to file the treatment for FDA approval in 2016.
- read the statement