Addex cuts staff from 19 to 2 people
CEO Bharatt Chowira and executive management step down
Swiss biotechnology firm Addex Therapeutics has cut its staff to two people after completing a restructuring previously announced on 27 May.
The Geneva-based company said it had terminated 17 of its 19 remaining employment contracts including that of Chief Executive Bharatt Chowrira and all of the executive management as it aims to reduce operating costs.
Staff are working through their notice periods while Addex seeks ‘investment, grants and partners to advance its pipeline and technology platform assets’. During this period, the Company will determine the optimal organizational and operating structure needed to build value for its shareholders.
André Mueller, Chairman of Addex, said: ‘In the coming months we will work diligently to secure the resources necessary to advance our pipeline and monetise our assets to capture potential upside for our shareholders.’
Addex's compound, ADX71149, an mGluR2 positive allosteric modulator (PAM) jointly developed in collaboration with Janssen, is currently in Phase II clinical development for schizophrenia and anxious depression and funded entirely by Janssen.
Under terms of the agreement with Janssen, Addex is eligible to receive €109m in pre-launch milestones for these indications as well as low double-digit royalties on net sales of products arising from the partnership.
The company's other leading product is dipraglurant (dipraglurant, an mGlu5 negative allosteric modulator or NAM), which is being developed by Addex to treat Parkinson's disease levodopa-induced dyskinesia (PD-LID) and rare forms of dystonia.
