NephroGenex said today it will “pause” development of its Phase III lead candidate Pyridorin®, restructure its operations, and consider “strategic alternatives” including a potential reverse merger.
The company's board of directors agreed to all three actions given clinical trial costs, the company’s cash balance, and uncertainty in the capital markets. As a result, NephroGenex added, it has canceled a planned conference call with analysts scheduled for tomorrow to discuss fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 results.
NephroGenex was among the public companies whose share prices fell the most last year, placing the company on GEN’s List of Top 10 Wall Street Losers of 2015, published this week.
The company did not offer any details about its planned restructuring, such as what operations or how many jobs might be eliminated. NephroGenex had 11 full-time employees as of March 24, 2015, according to its Form 10-K annual report for 2014.
NephroGenex said it has engaged MTS Health Partners to assess alternatives, and has paid off an approximately $6.3 million term loan. After accounting for the repayment, NephroGenex said it had approximately $11.5 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments on-hand as of yesterday.
Pyridorin is in Phase III development for diabetic nephropathy. In December, the Pyridorin NDA for treatment of acute kidney injury was cleared by the FDA.
As of 9:55 a.m., shares of NephroGenex on NASDAQ fell nearly 29%—to 80 cents—from yesterday’s close at $1.12.
