Speedy development drives Magainin strategy

Magainin Pharmaceuticals Inc., one of a growing number of biotech companies taking a new look at the antibiotics market, has sought to lower its risk by systematically focusing itself on projects that can undergo speedy development and approval.

The company is developing new classes of anti-infectives derived from host defense systems. "By taking a development focus, everything that we do is geared to how we can get a white powder in a bottle, how we can test it," said Jay Moorin, president and CEO. "We're in a pivotal Phase IIb/III trial with a molecule that we made less than 30 months ago. If things work out in the clinic, we could file an NDA in 1995."...