Merrimack CEO resigns, company cuts 22 per cent of workforce

Cancer drug developer Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. is cutting nearly a quarter of its workforce and searching for a new CEO after announcing a restructuring to eliminate more than $200 million in costs.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts, company said Monday that President and CEO Robert Mulroy had resigned, effective immediately, and board Chairman Gary Crocker would take over as an interim leader.

Merrimack also announced that it has largely completed a 22 per cent reduction in headcount. The company didn’t say in its Monday announcement how many people it employed, but it did note earlier this year in a regulatory filing that it had 426 full-time employees.

The company says it doesn’t expect the restructuring to affect the launch of its pancreatic cancer therapy Onivyde, which was approved last year by regulators. The company said it will book about $4.5 million to $5.5 million in charges tied to employee severance and other costs from the restructuring.

Shares of Merrimack fell 39 cents, or 6.1 per cent, to $5.96 in afternoon trading. The stock had dropped about 20 per cent so far this year, as of Friday.