Back in the summer of 2010, Gaithersburg, MD-based GenVec ($GNVC) was forced to lay its card on the table and start hunting for a possible buyer after its lead program--a gene therapy for pancreatic cancer--failed to deliver in the clinic. But back in the spring of this year Cynthia Collins was brought in as the new CEO, and today she unveiled a restructuring that will eliminate 23 jobs--about a third of its workforce.
The cuts will occur throughout the organization, she added, but had to be done in order to "ensure that our costs are more closely aligned with our resources and business strategy." But one group of workers involved in the company's partnership with Novartis ($NVS) is largely exempted from the cutbacks.
"Expenses are being reduced in virtually all areas, but we have focused on limiting the impact on our collaboration with Novartis to develop treatments for hearing loss and balance disorders," said Collins in a statement. "We continue to believe that this important program has the potential to be extremely valuable to our shareholders."
In early 2010 GenVec inked a $213 development million pact with Novartis. The Big Pharma company paid its second milestone on that deal late last year. GenVec has been working on new vaccines against infectious diseases like respiratory syncytial virus, herpes simplex virus, dengue fever, malaria, and HIV. It also has an animal program for a vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease.
GenVec's share price was largely unchanged this morning.
- here's the press release