Inflazyme Restructures, Cuts Staff by 70%

Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals Ltd. will undergo a corporate restructuring following its recent announcement on the Phase IIb CAPSICS study results. The results demonstrated a surprisingly large placebo response in the asthma trial, which obscured any potential effects of the drug.

The restructuring, which takes effect immediately, will reduce the company’s expenditures in an effort to improve its cash position. The restructuring involves a reduction of approximately 70% of the company’s staff. The costs associated with the restructuring are estimated to be $600,000.

“We are very disappointed to be letting go our employees, most of whom have been with Inflazyme for several years and all of whom have made significant contributions to our company, our technology and programs. We greatly appreciate our staff for their dedication, commitment and hard work. This is a necessary action in light of the disappointing results from the Phase IIb asthma trial, our lead program,” said Dr. Kevin Mullane, president and chief executive officer of Inflazyme.

The company has other LSAIDs for respiratory and inflammatory disorders, a PDE4 inhibitor product partnered with Helicon Therapeutics under a limited license agreement, and other PDE4 inhibitors in preclinical development. Also, the company expects to report results of the Phase IIa study with IPL455,903 in age associated memory impairment this quarter.