Operations and Management Realigned to Provide Full Support for Clinical Activities
ROCKVILLE, Md., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EntreMed, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENMD), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company announced today plans to focus the Company's resources on its most promising near-term product candidate, ENMD-2076, an Aurora/angiogenesis kinase inhibitor, as part of the Company's overall plan to lower operating costs and preserve capital. The plan calls for acceleration of the Company's 2009 clinical objectives for ENMD-2076, effectively transitioning the Company into a clinically-focused operation.
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ENMD-2076 is a unique small molecule kinase inhibitor which, in preclinical studies, has displayed an excellent activity profile and is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials for solid tumors and multiple myeloma. The Company expects to have available clinical data in mid-2009. While the Company's other product candidates, including MKC-1, ENMD-1198 and Panzem(R) in rheumatoid arthritis, continue to be promising, the Company will consider further clinical development only if additional financial resources are available. As a result, the Company expects to reduce all research activities to the minimal level necessary to continue its efforts to realize their potential value through arrangements with third parties. The Company's plan for these programs is not expected to affect ongoing trials and current patients.
Carolyn F. Sidor, M.D., M.B.A., Vice President, and Chief Medical Officer, will continue to lead the clinical development of ENMD-2076. Mark R. Bray, Ph.D, Vice President Research, will lead the research support for the Company's clinical activities. These research activities will concentrate primarily on those actions that will generate critical data to support and enhance the understanding of the mechanism of action and potential clinical utility of ENMD-2076. Focus on these activities will allow the Company to restructure and reduce its current workforce by approximately 60% across all areas of the business. The Company expects to substantially implement this restructuring plan by December 31, 2008.
As part of the restructuring and in order to further reduce costs, President and Chief Executive Officer, James S. Burns, will be leaving the Company and resigning from the Board of Directors. In addition, Chief Financial Officer, Dane Saglio; Senior Vice President, Research & Development, Kenneth W. Bair Ph.D.; and Senior Vice President, Corporate & Business Development, Thomas H. Bliss, will be leaving the Company.
The senior management team going forward will include: Carolyn F.
