Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, Mass.-based drugmaker, will slash its workforce by 60 percent and end development of its lead cancer drug after disappointing clinical trial results, according to Endpoints News.
Just weeks before the layoff notice, the struggling biotech company announced its most advanced drug in development, MM-121, did not improve the survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
The latest failed drug trial comes just one year after Merrimack axed its pancreatic cancer drug, MM-141, after a failed phase 2 trial.
The company plans to restructure and work with advisers to consider its next steps.
"In total, this restructuring, together with other restructuring and cost-cutting measures that we could implement in the future, provide us with the potential to extend our cash runway into at least the second half of 2022," Merrimack CEO Richard Peters said. "In parallel, we have retained external advisers to explore strategic alternatives.