[UPDATE: A planned $17-million deal for ImaRx Therapeutics to sell the clot-busting drug urokinase to Microbix Biosystems has fallen through because of an FDA decision clouding urokinase's future and Microbix's difficulty raising funds for the sale. Following the development, ImaRx announced plans to cut almost all of its 20-person staff in an attempt to survive. For more information: ImaRx, short on cash, cuts staff to 1," Arizona Daily Star, 06/13/2008.]

Original story, 05/16/2008: ImaRx Therapeutics, a Tucson-based firm that develops therapies for stroke and other vascular disorders, has signed an agreement to sell its leading product, urokinase, to Microbix Biosystems, a Canadian company, for $17 million. The deal constitutes a major shift for ImaRx, but should provide enough funds for the company to return to developing SonoLysis, a product it describes as more central to its long-term strategy.

"We view this as a very positive event for the company that gives us the ability to focus on the company's original core technology," said ImaRx president and CEO Bradford Zakes in the Arizona Republic.

In 2006, ImaRx purchased the rights to produce urokinase, a naturally occurring protein with clinical applications in breaking up blood clots, from Abbott Laboratories. As ImaRx ramped up manufacturing and marketing of urokinase, it was also working to develop SonoLysis, a proprietary technology that uses microbubbles in conjunction with ultrasound to disrupt blood clots.

Last year, the company stopped a clinical trial of SonoLysis and turned full attention to developing the urokinase portfolio. Zakes said that calling a halt to the trial was unrelated to results associating the therapy with an increased risk of intracranial hemorrhage.

"We were unsuccessful in raising the necessary operating capital to continue the SonoLysis program. So our decision at the time to orient the company around our urokinase program was largely finance-dependent," he said in BioWorld Today.

Selling urokinase to Microbix will generate enough cash to restart work on SonoLysis, but it means the elimination of ImaRx's primary source of revenue. Zakes said in BioWorld Today that although it "would appear to be a fairly radical shift in business strategy, the company has always been a firm believer in our SonoLysis technology. We believe that it holds the potential to be a paradigm-shifting treatment for a variety of vascular disorders," he added.

The agreement to sell urokinase gave ImaRx a much-needed boost on Wall Street. On the news of the sale on May 7, the company's stock price rose from 33 to 84 cents per share. That provides a little breathing room: Since ImaRx went public last August, it has struggled to keep its stock price afloat, and in April received notice from Nasdaq that it was in danger of being delisted from the index because its stock had closed below $1 for 30 consecutive days.

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For more information:

"ImaRx Shares Spike on Sale of Urokinase to Microbix," BioWorld Today, 05/08/2008

"Firm sells clot drug to raise R&D funds," Arizona Republic, 05/08/2008

"ImaRx has buyer for drug inventory," Arizona Daily Star, 05/08/2008

"ImaRx stock in danger of being delisted," Business Journal of Phoenix, 04/11/2008