Anadys Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it was cutting its workforce by a third and discontinuing further development of ANA380, its drug to treat hepatitis B virus infection.
Anadys said it was halting all work on early discovery projects and will incur a charge of about $0.8 million related to the workforce reduction.
In a filing with U.S. regulators, the company said it was terminating its employment agreement with Chief Scientific Officer Devron Averett, effective Aug. 17. Averett will assume a consultancy role, it added.
Anadys expects the 33 percent workforce reduction to result in annual savings of between $4 million and $5 million.
The company said it would return all rights of the ANA380 compound to Korean pharmaceutical company LG Life Sciences Ltd.
Anadys and LG Life Sciences had entered into a joint development program in April 2004, under which Anadys had marketing rights to the compound in North America, Europe, Japan and some other countries.
Last week, the company said it was discontinuing development of ANA975, its drug to treat hepatitis C virus infection, on safety concerns. It was developing the drug with Swiss drug-maker Novartis.
Anadys said it will focus its resources on two drug candidates, ANA598 for hepatitis C and ANA773 for cancer. With a cash balance of about $69 million, it believes it can carry development of the two drugs forward.
The company posted a second-quarter loss of $7 million, or 24 cents a share, on revenue of $1.3 million. Analysts on average were expecting a loss of 29 cents a share, on revenue of $1.34 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
