Thursday, May 14, 2009

Metabasis Therapeutics Running Short On Runway, Looks For Capital

San Diego-based Metabasis Therapeutics, which develops biopharmaceuticals for treating metabolic diseases, said today as part of its quarterly results that it is hoping to raise capital in Q2 to fund the firm's operations. The firm--which said it lost $8.2M in the first quarter--said it now has $11.8M in cash and cash equivalents on hand, enough to fund its operations into July. The firm has been attempting to stem its burn rate, having cut approximately 60 percent of its workforce since November of last year, and also made major cuts in January and suspended a number of its programs. The firm said it hoped to raise enough capital to fund its operations through Phase 2 clinical trials of its lead compound.

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