BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Wilex cancer news

February 3, 2014 8:00 AM UTC

Wilex will reduce headcount by 41 (80%) to 10 at its headquarters in Munich. The company said it would discontinue clinical development "stepwise" but declined to provide details on specific early stage programs. Wilex will focus on contract research and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology at its Heidelberg Pharma subsidiary in Ladenburg, Germany. The company said it will also seek partners for the out-licensing or financing of late stage products Rencarex girentuximab, Redectane and Mesupron ( WX-671). Heidelberg Pharma licenses the ADC technology to customers to improve antibody-based therapies, including marketed therapies. Wilex said it will have a new total of 52 employees at Munich and Ladenburg.

In December 2012, Wilex discontinued development of Rencarex after it missed the primary endpoint in the Phase III ARISER trial for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) but said last September it may restart development of the chimeric mAb against carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX). Wilex said it is planning a Phase III trial of Rencarex in a subgroup of patients stratified by CAIX. Redectane, a radiolabeled WX-G250 antibody, has completed one Phase III trial as an RCC diagnostic imaging agent. Mesupron is a second-generation serine protease inhibitor targeting urokinase-type plasminogen activator ( uPA) that has completed Phase IIa testing for pancreatic and breast cancer. Wilex said it has not secured financing to start additional Phase III trials of Rencarex or Redectane (see BioCentury, Sept. 16, 2013). ...