Cellectar Biosciences Shutting Down Manufacturing Operations
Summary
Madison, WI-based Cellectar (NASDAQ: CLRB) is developing drugs with the potential to treat malignant tumors and certain forms of blood cancer, including multiple myeloma.In an interview, Caruso said letting employees go is “always difficult.” However, in the long term, the changes to how Cellectar approaches manufacturing are expected to bring “very significant” cost savings, he said.“It allows us to invest precious dollars and resources in our science,” Caruso said, adding that the decision to shut down local manufacturing operations was a result of it being “difficult to justify maintaining a pretty significant footprint and space” at Cellectar’s headquarters.The company’s pipeline of drug candidates also includes light-emitting chemical compounds, which Caruso has said could potentially be used in surgeries on breast cancer patients.The technology that underpins Cellectar’s drug delivery platform is based in part on phospholipid ethers, which are designed to help kill tumors while minimizing the amount of healthy tissue destroyed in the process.