November 24, 2014
By Jessica Wilson, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Regeneus Ltd, a regenerative medicine company, has announced the end of a strategic review of the company, which has resulted in a streamlining of its management structure, operations and headcount. The cost reductions have put Australia-based Regeneus on the path to meet a quarterly cash burn target of $1.7 million, which will provide an expected two-year cash runway for the company.
“Our review identified a number of opportunities for streamlining our management structure and operations without having any significant impact on meeting our business and product development milestones for the next 18 months,” John Martin, the new CEO of Regeneus, said in a statement. “We have increased our focus on licensing commercialization partners for the co-development and distribution of products.”
When Martin took over the reins as CEO in mid-November, the company gave him the mandate to focus on developing partnerships and reducing coasts. In the statement announcing Martin’s new position, he had formerly served as executive chairman, the company explained his task as “unlock[ing] the value in the company’s product pipeline and clos[ing] the gap between the value of the assets and the share price.”
Martin stated that the company has concluded the “expensive phase” of product development. For several products, different partners have begun their parts in the commercialization process. For example, the Kvax vaccine, the first autologous canine cancer vaccine, has been transferred to Hennessey, Regeneus’ manufacturing partner in the U.S. In addition, manufacturing of CryoShot Canine, which is on track to be one of the first stem cell products approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has been transferred to Lonza, another manufacturing partner in the U.S.
Regeneus is currently in talks with potential partners about licensing, development and distribution of CryoShot Canine, and another allogeneic stem cell product called Progenza (PRG). According to Edison Investment Researchers, investors see Progenza, which is developed from allogeneic stem cells for the treatment of osteoarthritis, as the key long-term value driver for the company. Martin stated that product manufacture and pre-clinical safety studies are almost completed for the Phase I/II clinical trial of Progenza scheduled to begin in 2015.
Regeneus focuses on stem cell therapies, for both the human and veterinary health markets, that treat both musculoskeletal and oncology conditions. The company’s HiQCell, which is an autologous product using adipose-derived stem cells to treat human osteoarthritis, has been used to treat over 1,000 arthritic joints to date.
