Ma­teon punts failed late-stage can­cer drug, ax­es staffers; Medi­vir boost­ed by os­teoarthri­tis da­ta

⇨ The pen­ny stock biotech Ma­teon Ther­a­peu­tics $MATN, for­mer­ly Ox­i­Gene, says it is scrap­ping a Phase II/III ovar­i­an can­cer study of CA4P in com­bi­na­tion with Avastin af­ter a re­cent fu­til­i­ty an­nounce­ment. The biotech says it will now shelve the drug and needs to ax 60% of its staff while se­nior ex­ecs take a 50% pay cut to pre­serve cap­i­tal as they shift fo­cus to an­oth­er ther­a­py in the pipeline.

⇨ Just a few days af­ter see­ing its stock price take a hit on J&J’s de­ci­sion to scrap a late-stage hep C cock­tail which it had con­tributed to, Medi­vir $MVIR got a boost from pos­i­tive top line da­ta for MIV-711 in pa­tients with mod­er­ate knee os­teoarthri­tis.

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