Arena Cuts Jobs In R&D Overhaul

Arena Pharmaceuticals is cutting 35% of its U.S. workforce—or roughly 80 jobs—as it narrows its R&D focus to drug candidates that already have reached the clinic. The layoffs are expected to save the San Diego-based biotech $11 million annually. Arena plans further job cuts at its Swiss manufacturing facility. It also will jettison certain programs related to its obesity drug lorcaserin, including testing the pill in combination with phentermine as a smoking cessation treatment. The biotech determined that FDA’s request for larger clinical trials was financially unsustainable.