Date: May 20, 2015 Source: Reuters (
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Drug developer Lpath Inc said it would cut jobs and costs after its experimental eye drug failed a mid-stage study in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the elderly.
The biotechnology company's shares fell nearly 71 percent to $0.50 in premarket trading on Wednesday.
Lpath, which had about 25 employees as of March 1, according to a regulatory filing, also said it would re-evaluate its research and development programs.
The cost-saving initiatives are likely to significantly decrease Lpath's annualized cash expenditures and shore up enough funds for its drug discovery and development activities through June 30, 2016, the San Diego-based company said.
Lpath's drug, iSONEP, did not show a statistically significant improvement in visual clarity in patients who had not realized enough benefit from prior treatments, the company said.
The company suffered a similar blow in March, when its kidney cancer drug failed a mid-stage trial.
At the time, Lpath said it would look at exploring other opportunities where the drug may have "the best chance of success".
(Reporting by Natalie Grover and Samantha Kareen Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Simon Jennings)
