On January 15, 2019 Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FPRX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing innovative immuno-oncology protein therapeutics, reported a corporate restructuring to focus resources on its development pipeline, comprising five clinical-stage cancer programs in various solid tumor types and addressing multiple cell types in the tumor microenvironment (Press release, Five Prime Therapeutics, JAN 15, 2019, View Source [SID1234532678]).
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
"While we are on track for multiple data read-outs and potential phase advances from our pipeline in 2019, the Executive Team and Board felt it was necessary to sharpen our focus on our current clinical programs and the advancement of our later-stage research initiatives," said Aron Knickerbocker, Chief Executive Officer of Five Prime Therapeutics. "This was a hard decision to make, but we believe that effective use of capital is crucial to supporting our strong pipeline of anti-cancer drug candidates. We remain committed to successfully executing our clinical trials and advancing our later-stage research programs with the same intensity and quality for which Five Prime is known."
The company is eliminating 41 current positions, representing approximately 20% of its current headcount, and will take a disciplined approach to replacing and adding headcount. The positions eliminated are primarily in areas relating to research, pathology and manufacturing. The company expects that the restructuring and other cost-saving efforts will result in a $10 million reduction in net cash used for operating activities during fiscal year 2019 as compared to 2018, with additional expected savings in 2020 and beyond due to lower ongoing personnel expense. Five Prime estimates that it will incur approximately $2 million of pre-tax charges for severance and other costs related to the restructuring, primarily during the first quarter of 2019.
The company’s financial guidance that it anticipates ending 2019 with $148 to $153 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities reflects the expected reduction in the company’s operating expenses due to the elimination of positions. The company has no debt and ended 2018 with $270 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and believes this cash is sufficient to fund programs through multiple data readouts.