Drug Firms Cut Jobs To Preserve Cash

Rigel Pharmaceuticals will shed 20% of its workforce, or 36 employees, as it focuses on compounds in preclinical and clinical studies and halts research programs in virology and oncology. Rigel will also wait to secure a partner for its lead candidate, R788, in hopes that results from Phase II clinical trials will raise the drug's value. King Pharmaceuticals is shedding 760 positions, or about 22% of its workforce, as it integrates Alpharma, the specialty drug company it bought last year for $1.6 billion. Another firm, Alexza Pharmaceuticals, is slashing one-third of its workforce, or 52 people, to devote cash to the development of AZ-003, an inhaled version of the schizophrenia drug loxapine. Meanwhile, Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals will cut 20 jobs, or about 33% of its staff, and is freezing salaries and suspending bonuses for remaining employees.