Jobs go at Biomedica (From Herald Series)

Jobs go at Biomedica

12:40pm Friday 29th August 2008

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ABOUT nine jobs are being axed at gene therapy company Oxford Biomedica, where the chief executive has also quit suddenly after just over a month in the job.

'Personality clashes' were blamed for the departure of Mike McDonald, who had joined the company as chief medical officer in 2005.

The redundancies - about ten per cent of the 90-strong workforce - are part of cost savings implemented by the company to allow it to survive through the first half of 2010, following a huge fall in its share price.

The shares crashed when regulators said kidney cancer volunteers in a trial of Biomedica's key drug TroVax should receive no more treatments.

The company will now focus development on three projects with greatest potential for near-term success, with jobs going in areas where it is no longer funding research.

It reported a half-year net loss of £1.1m, reduced from £9.3m last year.

Prof Alan Kingsman, Oxford BioMedica's chairman and co-founder, said the company was analysing data from the clinical trial and said there was still a possibility that TroVax could give a positive survival advantage.

He said: "We eagerly await the maturing data and we believe they will be important in defining the clinical development and regulatory path for TroVax."

Results from a trial of ProSavin, a treatment for Parkinson's disease, are expected in September. Biomedica's third hope is RetinoStat, designed to treat age-related macular degeneration, with trials due to start in 2009.

Prof Kingsman said: "We ended the first half of 2008 in a strong financial position with net cash of £27m, but we recognise the need to prioritise our resources."

Dr McDonald has been replaced with immediate effect by John Dawson, who was appointed as non-executive director on August 1. He is a former financial director of US pharmaceutical company Cephalon.

Prof Kingsman said: "We would like to thank Dr McDonald for his major contributions to the TroVax and ProSavin programmes.

"His expertise in drug development programmes and his clinical leadership have been much valued. We wish him well for the future.

"We welcome John Dawson to the role of acting chief executive officer, and we look forward to making a permanent appointment in due course."

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