Dive Brief:
- Clinical-stage biopharma GlobeImmune disclosed a number of business updates on Friday, almost none of which were good.
- The announcements included Gilead's decision to nix a five-year-old partnership with the company for development of GS-4774, a drug candidate for the treatment of hepatitis B. GlobeImmune also ended the lease to its Colorado headquarters. And, if that wasn't enough, CEO Timothy Rodell is stepping down.
- Rodell will keep his spot on the five-member board of directors, though the other four members have resigned. GlobeImmune's Vice President of Finance and Treasurer Jeffrey Dekker will fill one of the newly empty board slots. He will also hold onto his latter title, and take on the roles of president and secretary.
Dive Insight:
GlobeImmune has been struggling for some time, and its Nov. 18 updates effectively ward off investor hopes for a turnaround in the near term.
In June 2015, the company initiated a strategic review in the hopes of finding a transaction to lift the business. In conjunction with that announcement, GlobeImmune cut the bulk of its workforce to provide enough cash to continue operations.
The review, which ended earlier this year, never yielded any transaction.
The biopharma has kept mostly quiet since July, when it delisted from the NASDAQ and moved over to the OTC Pink stock market. In its last quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, GlobeImmune reported $8.7 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, which comprised 89% of its total assets. GlobeImmune also reported $7.6 million in liabilities.
In a release, the company cited "ongoing listing, legal, administrative and additional accounting costs," an "inordinate amount of executive time and Company resources consumed in regulatory compliance obligations," and a "lack of investor interest as shown in the low daily trading volumes of the Common Stock on NASDAQ," as reasons for the delisting.
From Gilead's end, the Food and Drug Administration's approval of hep B drug Vemlidy earlier this month likely made it easier to separate ties with GlobeImmune. Still, the pharmaceutical heavyweight has seen revenues from its antiviral portfolio shrink as of late. Global sales of those products shrunk more than 10% — from $7.7 billion to $6.8 billion — between the third quarter of 2015 and the same period this year.
GlobeImmune did not disclose any potential replacements for Rodell.
Company shares traded at 50 cents Friday morning, down 28%.