BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

iCo ophthalmic, autoimmune, infectious news

February 8, 2016 8:00 AM UTC

iCo terminated all employees to preserve cash. In 2014, iCo reported that iCo-007 failed in a Phase II trial to treat diabetic macular edema (DME). The company said it has since conducted “an exhaustive search for both additional life science assets to acquire as well as potential business combinations,” but has been “unable to conclude a value enhancing transaction which would have made sense for iCo and its shareholders.” CEO Andrew Rae, CFO John Meekison and CMO Peter Hnik will be retained in a reduced consulting capacity. At Sept 30, 2015, iCo had a nine-month loss of C$1.1 million ($809,424); on Jan. 18, the company said it had about C$3.4 million ($2.4 million) in cash. iCo has exclusive, worldwide rights to iCo-007, a second-generation antisense inhibitor of c-raf kinase, to treat eye diseases caused by choroidal neovascularization from Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS, Carlsbad, Calif.) (see BioCentury, Aug. 29, 2005 & Aug. 4, 2014).

The company said it will investigate non-dilutive sources of funding for bertilimumab ( iCo-008) and its oral amphotericin B compound. iCo said it has begun manufacturing scale-up for oral amphotericin B in preparation for clinical trials. The company plans to complete IND-enabling toxicology studies of oral amphotericin B in 2016 and Phase I testing to treat HIV infection in 2017. ...