Enzon Pharma to explore sale of company

(Reuters) - Biotechnology company Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc said it would explore a possible sale of the company or its corporate assets.

The company also said that based on clinical data it plans to suspend development of its prostate cancer program, which is being tested in an early-stage trial, to conserve capital.

Enzon had total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $288.7 million as of September 30.

The company said it has retained Lazard as financial adviser for the review of the potential sale of one or more corporate assets or the entire company.

Enzon, in which activist investor Carl Icahn has a 13.29 percent stake, has two drugs in mid-stage trials and a number of others in early-stage studies.

Shares of Enzon, which has a market capitalization of about $200 million, closed at $4.57 on Friday on the Nasdaq. The stock has lost a third of its value so far this year.

(Reporting By Vrinda Manocha in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)