CNTO's fall back plan

The test of a company's fallback strategy is in the crunch. With the suspension of Centocor Inc.'s HA-1A sepsis trial last week, it remains to be seen if the company can stay alive by partnering its products, or whether it will be forced to sell all or part of its assets to a major pharmaceutical company.

CNTO adopted the partnering strategy last April, an about-face from its goal of becoming a fully integrated pharmaceutical company, after the FDA declined to approve HA-1A. In a conversation with BioCentury last week, Chairman Hubert Schoemaker and David Holveck, president, COO and CEO, reiterated their adherence to that strategy. ...