Orphazyme Calls For Court-Mediated Restructuring, Lays Off 50% Workforce

Orphazyme A/S's ORPH board of directors has called for a court-mediated restructuring, prompting the second round of layoffs in less than a year.
The in-court restructuring will determine whether any operations can continue if the Company can raise any capital or if it is prudent to sell all or some parts of its assets.
In June, Orphazyme axed two-thirds of its workforce.
Orphazyme recently closed its commercial business in the U.S., U.K., and Germany, and it also plans to delist from Nasdaq, likely effective by the end of March.
In late March 2021, Orphazyme announced its lead asset, arimoclomol, failed to improve disease progression in a phase 2/3 trial for inclusion body myositis, a progressive muscular disorder.
In May, the same asset failed to prove any benefit for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients in a phase 3 trial.
After FDA rejection for arimoclomol, EMA's advisory committee adopted a negative trend vote on arimoclomol application.
Arimoclomol was initially licensed from CytRx Corp CYTR in 2011 for $150,000 in upfront cash plus $150 million in royalty payments.
In a 2019 release, CytRx said it was slated to earn $10 million should arimoclomol be approved in the U.S. and Europe.
Price Action: ORPH shares are down 39.40% at $0.76 during the market session on the last check Friday.