Shares in the company drop to yet another new time low.
Regado Biosciences, a drug developer spun out of Duke University, is cutting its workforce down by 60% across all sites. Some 20 staff will lose their job at termination and facility closure costs of $2m.
Regado had already let go five out of then 32 employees in September 2013 when the initial public offering came up short $10m.
The announcement follows August 2014’s news when the company had to terminate its phase 3 clinical trial for blood clotting drug Regulate-Pci. The drug had been used by surgeons during procedures that involve the mechanical opening or widening or coronary arteries but a significant percentage of the first 3,250 patients (out of an originally planned, eventual 13,200) exhibited severe allergic reactions.
As a result of the news, shares in the Nasdaq-listed company dropped further from an already low $1.11 in August 2014 to just $1.01 at closing time October 6, 2014, recovering slightly from the all-time low of $0.96. The shares once traded as high as $14.10.
David Mazzo, chief executive at Regado, said: “The termination of Regulate-Pci led us to important business decisions. The workforce reduction was a necessary action to conserve working capital and provide maximum flexibility in determining the future direction of Regado.”
