The Medicines Company, a Parsippany, New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company, has announced a restructuring program under which the company plans to divest its Infectious Disease Business (ID) and reduce its employee headcount to under 60 people (excluding the ID business). The company, which made the announcement on October 25, 2017 as part of its third-quarter earnings, said it plans to implement the restructuring within the next 45 days following the announcement.

The restructuring will reduce the company’s workforce of approximately 410 persons (as of February 2017) worldwide to less than 60. The company said the move allocates resources to inclisiran, a proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor being developed as an anti-cholesterol medicine, for a Phase III clinical program by preparing investigational sites and manufacturing drug supply. The company said that is expects that all trials comprising the inclisiran low-density lipoprotein cholesterol-lowering program will begin before the end of the year. It expects a readout of data from the Phase III trial in the second half of 2019.

The Medicines Company and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals are collaborating on the advancement of inclisiran pursuant to their 2013 agreement. Under the agreement, Alnylam completed certain preclinical studies and the Phase I clinical study with The Medicines Company leading and funding the development of inclisiran from Phase II forward as well as potential commercialization.

The Medicines Company reported worldwide net revenue of $59.8 million in the first nine months of 2017 compared to $142.6 million in the first nine months of 2016. The company has five commercial products: Angiomax/Angiox (bivalirudin), an anticoagulant; Vabomere (meropenem and vaborbactam) for treating complicated urinary tract infections; Orbactiv (oritavancin) for treating acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections; Minocin (minocycline) for treating infections; and Ionsys (fentanyl iontophoretic transdermal system) for treating pain. 

Source: The Medicines Company