Amicus, Shire end deal

Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:FOLD) said late Thursday that it and Shire plc (LSE:SHP; NASDAQ:SHPGY) mutually ended a 2007 deal to develop Amicus' Amigal migalastat, Plicera afegostat tartrate and AT2220 deoxynojirimycin. Amicus regains all rights to the compounds and will receive a final $5.2 million payment from the deal this quarter. A Shire spokesperson said the programs have "experienced some outcomes that delayed their development," and therefore Shire concluded that the risk profile no longer fit the company's criteria. Earlier this month, Amicus said it did not expect to move Plicera into Phase III trials for Type I Gaucher's disease (See BioCentury Extra, Friday, Oct. 02, 2009).

Amicus also said it will restructure and reduce headcount across the company by 26 (21%) to 99 to reduce cost. The reductions include CFO Jim Dentzer. Amicus will focus on developing Amigal for Fabry's disease and its preclinical chaperone technology programs. Amigal, a small molecule that enhances alpha galactosidase A activity, is in Phase III testing for the indication, with data expected mid-2011. Amicus expects to end the year with $70-$80 million in cash, which it expects to last into 2H11. At Sept. 30, Amicus had a nine-month operating loss of $40.3 million. ...