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Advaxis to seek partners for experimental drug, cut workforce

As part of restructuring its product portfolio, Advaxis Inc. will be seeking partners to develop its experimental medicine Axal, for treating human papillomavirus, or HPV-associated cancers, including cervical cancer.

The Princeton, N.J.-based biotechnology company said if it is unable to secure a partner within a certain time, it will wind down its ongoing clinical trial Aim2cerv in a type of cervical cancer and will not conduct the Advance PD-1 combination trial for treating a certain cervical cancer.

In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed on hold a clinical trial which was evaluating Axal, or axalimogene filolisbac, with AstraZeneca PLC's Imfinzi, or durvalumab, in patients with a certain type of cervical cancer.

The company said it plans to submit a response to the FDA shortly.

Advaxis has also decided to spend more on developing the ADXS-NEO and ADXS-HOT programs, which target neoantigens — antigens encoded by tumor-specific mutated genes.

In addition, Advaxis said it is reducing about 24% of its workforce, effective June 7.

The company will take a one-time charge of about $905,000 in the fiscal third quarter related to this restructuring.

Advaxis said that taking into account the product portfolio prioritization and workforce reduction it expects annual cash burn, or the rate of spending venture capital to finance overhead, to be about $50 million, less 38% from a spending of about $80 million in the year-ago period.