CAMBRIDGE, England and CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – 7 March 2007
– Acambis plc (Acambis) (LSE: ACM) announces that it has
initiated a wide-ranging restructuring, following an extensive
review of its operations and cost base.
The restructuring aims to increase the focus of its resources
upon key programmes and core operational capabilities, and
significantly lower its cost base.
Over the next two years Acambis intends to reduce its cost base
by around 20%, with the majority of the cost savings initiatives
being implemented in 2007. It is intended that the headcount will
be reduced from 260 by approximately 15% during this year across
the organisation.
The cash costs, all of which will be incurred in 2007, are
expected to be around £3 million, which will be offset by the
savings achieved during the year. Following the full implementation
of the restructuring, it is expected that the cost base will
decrease by approximately £7 million per annum, with the
first full year savings being in 2008.
The Company announced in November 2006 that its strategy is to
focus its future investment in building an enhanced portfolio of
vaccines and other biological products, supported by revenues from
its biodefence activities. Its R&D operations will now focus
primarily on activities through to Phase II clinical studies,
although it may still complete Phase III clinical studies in some
cases. Acambis will continue to develop scalable manufacturing
processes based on its world class facilities and will generally
seek partners to commercialise its products. The reorganisation is
not expected to have any impact on the Company's existing pipeline.
As previously announced, preliminary results for 2006 will be
released on 15 March.
Peter Fellner, Chairman, commented:
“This reorganisation will ensure that Acambis has the
right cost base, capabilities and infrastructure to deliver its
strategy. We are increasing the effective use of our resources by
focusing our activities upon those areas where we believe we can
create new shareholder value."
In parallel the Company has appointed a new CEO and implemented
other management changes. These are summarised in the accompanying
announcement.
-ends-
Enquiries:
Acambis plc
Gordon Cameron, Chief Executive Officer
Peter Fellner, Chairman
Lyndsay Wright, VP, Communications and IR
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 275 300
Brunswick
Jon Coles / Justine McIlroy / Margherita Lupi
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959
Notes to editors:
About Acambis
Acambis is a leading biotechnology company targeting infectious
diseases with novel vaccines. Acambis' development-stage pipeline
includes vaccines that could either offer improvements over
existing products or target unmet medical needs. As well as
ChimeriVax-JE, Acambis' proprietary ChimeriVax technology has also
been used to develop ChimeriVax-West Nile, which is undergoing
Phase 2 clinical testing, making it the most advanced
investigational vaccine against the West Nile virus. Acambis also
has the only vaccine in development against Clostridium difficile
bacteria, a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections.
Recognised internationally as the leading producer of smallpox
vaccines, Acambis is developing an investigational smallpox
vaccine, ACAM2000, and is manufacturing emergency-use stockpiles of
this investigational vaccine for the US Government and other
governments around the world.
Acambis is based in Cambridge, UK and Cambridge, Massachusetts,
US, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (ACM). More
information is available at www.acambis.com.
“Safe Harbor' statement under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
The statements in this news release that are not historical facts
are forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties, including the timing and results of clinical trials,
product development, manufacturing and commercialisation risks, the
risks of satisfying the regulatory approval process in a timely
manner, the need for and the availability of additional capital.
For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties see
“Risk management' in the Company's 2005 Annual Report and
“Risk factors' in its Form 20-F, in addition to those
detailed on the Company's website and in the Company's filings made
with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.
These forward-looking statements are based on estimates and
assumptions made by the management of Acambis and are believed to
be reasonable, though are inherently uncertain and difficult to
predict. Actual results or experience could differ materially from
the forward-looking statements.
