Small biotech decamps for East Coast

Bothell biotechnology company Northwest Biotherapeutics is moving out of the Northwest, shifting its headquarters to Bethesda, Md., over Labor Day weekend, according to a regulatory filing.

The company also faces an informal Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry over announcements it made in July, its filings say. In its quarterly filing with the SEC, the company said "we plan to provide a timely response" to the Aug. 13 inquiry.

Northwest Biotherapeutics, which is developing therapies that spur the immune system to fight cancer, now trades on London's AIM market. It had three full-time employees.

In early July the company issued a press release saying it had received authorization for its brain-cancer vaccine in Switzerland. A week later, it clarified that was only an import-export authorization, and that Swiss authorities had not evaluated the safety or efficacy of the drug.

The reversal caused its shares to tank and prompted a shareholder lawsuit.

Separately, a Swiss maker of drug ingredients is suing the company claiming infringement of eight patents for genetic engineering. The company has denied those claims.