Threshold Pharmaceuticals to reduce workforce

Threshold to focus on clinical trials of tarloxotinib while evaluating potential further development of evofosfamide and other strategic options for the company.

Threshold will reduce its workforce by approximately two-thirds, resulting in between 20-25 remaining employees. Threshold anticipates the one-time severance-related charge associated with the workforce reduction to be approximately $2.6 million, which includes approximately $0.3 million of non-cash expense related to the extension of the post-termination exercise period for the outstanding vested stock options for the affected employees. The majority of the charges will be paid by the end of the first quarter of 2016.

"We are enacting this reduction in workforce as a result of the recently announced outcomes from our two Phase III trials of evofosfamide in which neither trial met its primary endpoint of demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in overall survival," said Barry Selick, CEO at Threshold. "I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our employees who are being affected by this difficult but necessary action. This is a loss to our Threshold family of talented and dedicated individuals who have worked with integrity and passion towards improving the lives of people living with cancer."

Dr Selick continued, "With this workforce reduction, we will focus our efforts on the ongoing Phase II clinical trials of tarloxotinib while evaluating potential further development of evofosfamide and other strategic options for the company. We plan to provide additional guidance in the first quarter of 2016."

Threshold has a global license and co-development agreement for evofosfamide with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Both companies are evaluating next steps for the evofosfamide program.