Looking for advantage in oncology

Axys Pharmaceuticals Inc. is making its move away from dependence on drug discovery partnerships and toward its redefinition as a vertically integrated product company. The company intends to concentrate its internal development on building an oncology franchise, a crowded market where AXPH believes its expertise in proteases as therapeutic targets as well as its chemistry and pharmacology capabilities will enable it to compete.

In addition to its internally developed programs, AXPH (South San Francisco, Calif.) plans to find and optimize early stage products that have weaknesses that can be overcome using the company's chemistry and pharmacology knowhow...