OXiGENE Restructures

OXiGENE, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics to treat cancer and eye diseases, will restructure in an effort to focus resources on its most promising early-stage clinical programs and to further cut costs. The company is cutting 11 full-time equivalent employees, or approximately 61% of its staff, and will seek to reduce the amount of space it currently rents to conduct its operations.

The company anticipates recording a total charge of approximately $1.2 million, primarily associated with personnel-related termination costs, and expects to reduce expenses by approximately $2.0 million annually.

OXiGENE plans to continue its investigator-sponsored Phase I trial of OXi4503 in patients with AML or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and its Phase II trial of Zybrestat in combination with bevacizumab in patients with relapsed ovarian cancer. The company plans to evaluate additional early-stage development opportunities for these two product candidates.

OXiGENE will seek potential collaborations for its Phase III study of ZYBRESTAT in patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) and is concluding its Phase II Zybrestat trial in non-small cell lung cancer. No decisions regarding further development in NSCLC have been made.

“OXiGENE’s management and board have determined that the optimal course of action is to focus on advancing our earlier stage clinical development programs while completing the trials we or clinical investigators have initiated,” said Peter Langecker, M.D., Ph.D., OXiGENE’s chief executive officer. “Focusing our clinical resources on what we believe are our most promising early-stage clinical development opportunities and reducing our operating costs should allow us to conserve available resources. A reduction in force is never an easy decision to make, especially as we have such an excellent team here at OXiGENE. We want to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to the employees who are affected by this restructuring.”