Portage plummets as search for strategic alternatives goes on

US immuno-oncology company Portage Biotech (Nasdaq: PRTG) has only around a fifth of its stock market value since early Friday, when the firm reported that it is expanding its evaluation of strategic alternatives and implementing additional measures to extend its cash runway.

In January, Portage announced that it was pausing further drug development in its PORT-2 iNKT program and implementing a cost-savings plan, including job cuts, to extend its cash runway. The company then sold its holding in Intensity Therapeutics, raising $2.8 million to further fund its PORT-6 (adenosine 2A inhibitor) Phase Ia portion of the ADPORT-601 trial.

"If the company is unable to complete a transaction, it may be required to seek a restructuring or company wind down"On Friday, following a review of the company’s future funding needs for clinical development of its adenosine antagonist platform as well as the current capital raising market for the company, the board of directors announced it was pausing further enrollment in the ADPORT-601 clinical trial of PORT-6 (adenosine 2A inhibitor) and PORT-7 (adenosine 2B inhibitor).