SAN DIEGO—Vical Inc. announced recently a restructuring effort to conserve capital and to focus its efforts on VL-2397, its antifungal drug product candidate that is entering a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial in the first quarter of 2018, and on completing its Phase 2 HSV-2 clinical trial. The restructuring includes a reduction in staff of a little over half, from 74 to 34 employees. The company is terminating all activities related to the ASP0113 program licensed to Astellas Pharma. The company believes its currently available cash and investments will be adequate to fund operations at least through 2019.

 

“We have carefully evaluated our organization and priorities and are restructuring to extend our cash runway to ensure that our promising HSV-2 vaccine candidate and VL-2397 antifungal drug product candidate is adequately resourced to maximize shareholder value,” said Vijay Samant, Vical’s president and CCEO. “This has been a very difficult process and we regret the impact this business decision has on our departing employees. We greatly appreciate the hard work and commitment they have shown Vical over the years and wish them the very best in their future endeavors.”

 

Vical expects to report that it ended 2017 with cash and investments of approximately $60 million to $65 million. The cash burn for 2017 is expected to be at the low end of Vical’s guidance of $8 million to $11 million. The company expects to incur personnel-related restructuring charges of approximately $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2018.