Maxygen Cuts Costs And Shifts Strategy

Maxygen is cutting costs while exploring options for selling assets, partnering, or making other business arrangements. The Redwood City, Calif.-based firm will eliminate about 30% of its workforce in early 2009 and retain about 65 employees. Remaining staff will focus primarily on the MAXY-4 program with Astellas Pharma to treat immune disorders; a small team will continue other protein drug discovery efforts for autoimmune diseases. The company won't advance its MAXY-G34 product, now in Phase II development for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, unless it finds a collaborative partner to share costs. Maxygen says it will end 2008 with about $200 million in cash, no debt, and a 25% stake in biocatalyst technology developer Codexis.