On the heels of a PhIII implosion, cancer biotech Mologen is turned over to the liquidator
The 31 staffers left at German biotech Mologen are now working for a liquidator. And the focus now is on finding buyers for anything it has left that can be sold.
Mologen filed for insolvency a few days ago, months after its lead drug — the TLR9 agonist lefitolimod — failed badly in Phase III.
Back in August the company reported that their drug produced a near mirror image result for median overall survival in comparison to the control group in a Phase III. Their OS rate was 22 months when the drug was used as a second-line therapy for colorectal cancer. That compared to 21.9 months for the comparison group. And secondary endpoints didn’t provide any reason to hope for something better.
Mologen — which had partnered on the drug with China-backed Oncologie — couldn’t recover from the blow.
Its market cap $MGNK has dwindled to €2.35 million. Nineteen years ago it was trading at €292. Today it’s €0.19.
In a statement, Christian Köhler-Ma, of the Berlin office of GT Restructuring noted:
Being a pioneer in immune therapy, Mologen AG has unique knowhow when it comes to developing innovative and differentiated TLR9 agonists, a group of new ingredients from the class of immune modulators designed to be used against cancer and infection diseases. I will continue operations with all 31 employees for the time being. I was already approached by several potential purchasers of the entire company or individual parts and products in development. Initial meetings with these interested parties give reason for confidence.