BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

PharmAthene, Siga, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services infectious news

September 1, 2014 7:00 AM UTC

PharmAthene disclosed in its 2Q14 earnings that it reduced R&D headcount by 11, or 33% of its technical staff. The cuts were in response to an April notice from HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) that the agency was partially terminating its SparVax anthrax vaccine contract for convenience, including a proposed Phase II trial. PharmAthene expects to complete the remaining activities under the contract this half. PharmAthene does not expect to receive additional “significant” BARDA funding for SparVax and is exploring options for the future of the program. The company expects revenue to “decline significantly” as a result of the BARDA termination. PharmAthene recorded revenues of $7.4 million, including $6.9 million from SparVax, in 1H14 compared to $10.8 million, including $8.6 million from SparVax in 1H13.

Late last year, FDA placed the SparVax program on clinical hold prior to a Phase II trial that was slated to begin by year end 2013. FDA had placed the program on clinical hold in August 2012 prior to a Phase II trial and lifted the hold in 2013 after reviewing additional stability data submitted by the company. SparVax is a second-generation recombinant protective antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine. At June 30, PharmAthene had $11.3 million in cash and a six-month operating loss of $3.6 million (see BioCentury, Aug. 13, 2012; June 3, 2013 & Dec. 23, 2013). ...