Date: Apr 27, 2009 Source: bizjournals (
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Genaera Corp., one of the region's oldest biotechnology companies, is closing up shop.
The Plymouth Meeting, Pa., company intends to hold a special meeting of stockholders to seek approval of the board's dissolution plan.
The plan calls for satisfying or resolving remaining liabilities and obligations and attempting to convert any and all of its remaining assets into cash or cash equivalents.
"Based on current projections of operating expenses and liquidation costs, the company currently estimates that it will not make liquidating distributions to stockholders unless and until a sale of one or all of its assets has been consummated," the company said in a statement.
The company said if it receives an offer for a "corporate transaction" that provides a superior value to stockholders before the dissolution plan is finalized, the dissolution plan could be abandoned.
Genaera (NASDAQ:GENR) was originally founded in 1987 as Magainin Pharmaceuticals.
During its three decades, it was never able to get a product in the market.
Its first flagship new drug candidate, called Locilex, was an experimental topical cream derived from the skin of the African clawed frog for diabetic foot ulcers. In 1999, the Food and Drug Administration rejected Magainin's new drug application, ruling the company had failed to prove Locilex represented a significant improvement over available treatments.
The company developed another new drug candidate, Squalamine, which was based on a compound found in the tissues of the dogfish shark. Squalamine was tested, but never developed, as a potential anti-cancer compound and as a treatment for the leading cause of blindness, wet age-related macular degeneration.
The company also worked on a potential asthma drug it outlicensed to MedImmune, which is in midstage testing of the compound.
Most recently, Genaera focused its limited remaining resources on Trodusquemine, an experimental treatment for obesity and diabetes.
Last month, the company announced it was cutting its staff by 80 percent effect May 1, leaving Genaera with six employees.
As of March 31, Genaera had approximately $5.3 million of cash and cash equivalents and total liabilities of about $2 million.
