Celladon to suspend Mydicar development, make job cuts and seeks merger

28 June 2015

Celladon (Nasdaq: CLDN) has issued a business update detailing its intention to suspend further development of its experimental gene therapy Mydicar and other clinical programs.

The other programs include Stem Cell Factor gene therapy and SECA2b small molecule programs. Shares in the company slid as much as 37% on the announcement, which follows news in April that its Phase II study of Mydicar (AAV1/SERCA2a) in heart failure patients missed its primary and secondary endpoints against placebo.

This month, Celladon said that its directors had approved a plan to undertake strategic alternatives such as a partnership or acquisition after the trial failure. There will also be a second round of job cuts, with half the employees not previously notified of termination in the first round expected to depart in the third quarter.

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