Cheshire drug developer to cut workforce by 60%
Drug development company Redx Pharma is cutting staff numbers by 60%, following a change in strategy to focus more on pipeline development than discovery.
The changes mean that around 86 jobs are to be cut, from a total of around 140 staff based at Alderley Park in Cheshire.
The company, which is moved its headquarters from Liverpool to Alderley Park towards the end of last year, is refocussing the business to concentrate on its key assets in oncology and immunology, namely Porcupine and BTK.
It said it remains committed to discovery research, but at a reduced investment level.
One of the company’s projects, developing a new antibiotic designed to tackle MRSA, is part of a commercial partnership with The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust but this work will now continue only under external collaborations.
Neil Murray, chief executive of Redx Pharma, said: “Redx has created a world-class capability in small molecule drug discovery in oncology and immunology. We have a strong research engine that continues to deliver an innovative pipeline, but we must now shift our focus towards developing our key portfolio assets, specifically our Porcupine and BTK programs for hard to treat diseases. To reflect this new focus, we are reorganizing our business, including plans to reduce headcount.”
Dr. Peter Jackson, the co-founder of Redx and its executive chairman until 2014, will be stepping down as a non-executive director at the end of this month. Meanwhile chairman Dr. Frank Armstrong and non-executive director Peter McPartland are to stand down from the board.
Murray said: “Dr Peter Jackson has worked tirelessly for Redx since he helped found the business. I would also like to extend my personal thanks to Frank, Pete and Peter for the support they have given me and for the highly professional way in which they have carried out their roles.”
Redx had net cash of £5.8m at the end of September (2015: £9.4m) and operating income of £2.4m (2015: £2.6m).
The company listed on AIM in March 2015, raising £15m and last month it successfully raised another £10m through a further share placing to support its development pipeline in March 2016. Since the year end it has raised another £12m.
