The Day In Review: InterMune, Inc. Retrenches

March 20, 2007 -- InterMune fired 50% of its workforce, two weeks after Actimmune failed a Phase III test for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; MGI Pharma said Aquavan, its sedative for office procedure use, met its endpoints in a Phase III trial; Cell Therapeutics will file for a SPA for a Phase III trial of cancer drug Xyotax; Myriad Genetics completed enrollment of 800 patients in a Phase III trial of Flurizan for Alzheimers; Corcept reported Corlux failed a Phase III test for Psychotic Major Depression; Sunesis presented positive data on an anti-cancer drug candidate; GenVec will develop vaccines with the NIH for RSV; 3SBio received permission to begin marketing pre-filled syringes of EPO in China; La Jolla Pharma will offer 5 million shares in a follow-on offering; and ViaCell began a clinical test to prove safety and efficacy of its method for cryopreservation of human oocytes. The Centient Biotech 200™ rose 24 points to 3860, a gain of .62%. More details...