Company is looking to sell itself or its preclinical HIV pipeline.
Panacos Pharmaceuticals is once again restructuring and reports that it is looking to sell the company or HIV development programs. The company says that finding an alternative for its franchise is imperative, as without it the firm may not be able to continue operations beyond the second quarter.
Panacos is closing its Gaithersburg facility and will reduce its workforce from eleven to four employees, effective February 27. In December 2008 the company dropped 55% of its workforce, and another two employees left two months later in connection with the sale of its Phase II HIV therapy.
Myriad Pharmaceuticals bought bevirimat for $7 million in January. Even though the compound was Panacos’ nearest shot at bringing a drug to market, since it was the only clinical-stage candidate, the firm sold the drug to gain much needed capital.
The company continues to struggle and is hence now looking to also sell what’s left of its business: a preclinical pipeline of HIV therapeutic candidates. These compounds are second-generation versions of bevirimat, and Panacos believes that one candidate could enter Phase I testing in 12 months.
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