Opexa Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing personalized immunotherapies for autoimmune disorders, including for multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO), today announced that it was implementing a restructuring initiative.
The initiative will focus the use of its resources, which should extend the Company’s current cash runaway into the first quarter of 2017.
The move comes as the Company prepares to complete its Phase IIb clinical trial in Secondary Progressive MS (SPMS) and report top-line data, with the announcement of such data currently expected in early Q4 2016.
As the Company’s 190-patient Phase IIb Abili-T trial approaches completion, with the final dose for the last patient having been administered last week, the Company is reducing its work force by approximately 30%. The reduction-in-force includes the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, Karthik Radhakrishnan. The Company estimates that it will record in the first quarter of 2016 a one-time severance-related charge of approximately $325,000.
“We are focused on closing out the Phase IIb Abili-T study in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis patients and presenting top-line data early in the fourth quarter of this year,” said Neil K. Warma, Opexa’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “SPMS remains an area of critical unmet medical need and the completion of the Abili-T study is an important step in the development of what we believe could be the first safe and effective treatment for this disease. We achieved an important milestone last week, having administered the final dose to the last patient in the Abili-T trial, and to date we have completed approximately 97% of all patient visits. We have aligned the restructuring to coincide with the reduction of activities associated with nearing completion of the Abili-T trial. The restructuring should enable us to extend our current cash into the first quarter of 2017, providing us with additional runway beyond the expected Q4 2016 release of top-line data.”
Source: Opexa
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