GPC Biotech AG announced a restructuring that will involve US staff reductions of approximately 15 per cent of the company's total workforce.
GPC Biotech also announced that, as part of a succession plan that was put into place in 2006, Martine George, M.D. will succeed Marcel Rozencweig, M.D. as senior vice president, drug development and chief medical officer and will assume leadership of the company's drug development team. Dr. Rozencweig will remain with the company in the new role of senior vice president, clinical science and drug evaluation to focus on identifying and pursuing new drug development in-licensing opportunities.
Bernd R. Seizinger, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer, said: "The decision to reduce staff has been a very difficult one to make, particularly since we have been able to build and grow such stellar teams. However, these decisions were necessary as we focus on moving the company forward and planning for our future. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the affected employees for their important contributions to GPC Biotech. I would also like to emphasize that our belief in satraplatin remains strong and we are committed to doing everything we can to bring satraplatin successfully to the market."
Dr. Seizinger continued: "We hired Dr. Martine George over a year ago as part of a succession plan to ensure a smooth transition in the critical area of drug development, as Dr. Rozencweig had indicated that he would like to gradually reduce his operational involvement. Dr. George's extensive experience in driving oncology development at major pharmaceutical companies and her strong contributions since joining GPC Biotech make her well-suited to move our development efforts forward and build on the excellent work of Dr. Rozencweig. I am happy that Dr. Rozencweig has agreed to stay with GPC Biotech and help us as we intensify our efforts to in-license promising compounds as well as continue to support us with the preparations for re-filing our NDA for satraplatin based on the overall survival analysis. He is an important member of our senior management team, and his strong network in the oncology community and many years of development experience will continue to be invaluable resources to the company."
Martine George, M.D. joined GPC Biotech as senior vice president, clinical development in the spring of 2006. Prior to joining GPC Biotech, Dr. George was senior vice president, head of oncology at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development.
The company's restructuring plan involves a staff reduction of 46 of currently 316 employees or approximately 15 per cent of the total workforce. All affected staff are based in the US, with reductions in the commercialization, drug development and general and administrative groups. Affected employees will be eligible for severance packages that include severance pay, continuation of benefits and outplacement services. The company has retained a core team in all affected functional areas which can serve as a basis for rebuilding in the future. The company is also retaining the personnel needed to prepare and file as quickly as possible a potential NDA for satraplatin based on overall survival results.
GPC Biotech is also planning to slow down certain ongoing activities and not make further financial commitments to its 1D09C3 monoclonal antibody and cell cycle inhibitors programs at this time. However, the company plans to maintain the capability to ramp up these programs later, should more resources be available to do so. The Company also plans to continue ongoing satraplatin trials, including the SPERA expanded access program.
GPC Biotech AG is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing new anticancer drugs.