Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.Following the presentation of disappointing study results last week for Fibrostat, a treatment for excessive scar formation, Procyon Biopharma has begun implementing restructuring plans that will see the company cut a quarter of its workforce and close three research laboratories.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Procyon said that, in order to maximize shareholder value in the short to medium term, it would now shift its focus from being an early-stage research company to a late-stage drug development company.
The company said that it would maintain development activities for its three main drug candidates, namely: PCK3145, for advanced metastatic prostate cancer; PPL-100, a new formulation of its protease inhibitor for drug-resistant HIV/AIDS; and Fibrostat, for the prevention of hypertrophic scars.
The restructuring has resulted in the closing down of three of its five basic research laboratories as well as the immediate termination of 14 of its 42 employees, mainly in the basic research and administrative support functions.
Procyon’s therapeutic peptide for advanced metastatic prostate cancer, PCK3145, recently received clearance from the FDA to initiate a dosing study of once versus twice weekly administration of the drug at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. The company expects to complete this study by mid-year and plans to initiate a complete phase IIb trial across the US and Canada thereafter.
The preclinical work on PPL-100, a protease inhibitor for drug-resistant HIV/AIDS, is nearing completion and Procyon expects to bring the candidate to the clinic in the second half of 2005. Finally, Procyon is currently assessing the option to apply for a phase IIb protocol amendment to study the clinical utility of Fibrostat in the prevention of hypertrophic scars.