May 6, 2016

Clovis Oncology laying off 35 percent of employees

BOULDER — Clovis Oncology Inc. said Wednesday that it will reduce its staff and contractor positions by 35 percent by the end of the year as it pulls the plug on its lung cancer drug candidate, rociletinib, after receiving notice that it will not be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Boulder-based Clovis (Nasdaq: CLVS), which has 309 full-time employees worldwide, made the announcement in its first-quarter financial report in which it incurred a loss of $83.4 million, or $2.17 per share, compared with a net loss of $63.1 million, or $1.86 per share, for the first quarter of 2015.

Clovis is reducing its staff, eliminating contractor positions and delaying or eliminating planned new positions, according to the report. Clovis, which also has offices in San Francisco and the United Kingdom, employs about 90 people in Boulder, though it’s unclear how many of them will be affected by the job cuts.

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“We are very disappointed in the outcome for rociletinib, as there is a need for additional options for this difficult to treat disease,” Patrick J. Mahaffy, Clovis’ president and chief executive, said in a prepared statement.

In a recent meeting with the FDA, Clovis was notified that it could anticipate receiving a notice by June that its application for the drug would not be approved.

In anticipation of receiving the notice, Clovis terminated enrollment in all ongoing clinical studies of rociletinib. Clovis will continue to provide the drug to patients whose clinicians recommend continuing rociletinib therapy. In addition, Clovis has withdrawn its application to market the drug in Europe.

Clovis plans to focus its drug candidate rucaparib that would treat ovarian cancer. The company intends to maintain its sales force in the United States in in preparation for the potential U.S. launch of rucaparib.

Clovis recently entered into a clinical trial collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to evaluate a novel combination therapy of Genentech’s investigational cancer immunotherapy atezolizumab and rucaparib for the treatment of gynecological cancers, with a focus on ovarian cancer. The Phase 1b trial is planned to begin enrolling patients during the second half of 2016.

Also during the second half of 2016, the company intends to initiate a study of rucaparib in prostate cancer patients, as well as a study in advanced ovarian cancer.

Clovis will continue its collaboration with Les Laboratoires Servier Servier on the global clinical development of lucitanib outside of China, initially targeting advanced breast cancer.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that rociletinib is intended to treat ovarian cancer.

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