NeXstar cancer, drug discovery, infectious diseases news

NXTR will spin off its drug discovery business and create two separate, publicly traded companies. The discovery company will be named Iterex Technologies Inc., to which NXTR will contribute an undisclosed amount of cash. NXTR's combinatorial chemistry technologies include Selex and Evolutionary Chemistry, which was formerly called Parallel Selex.

The second company will retain the NeXstar Pharmaceuticals name and will focus on developing and marketing drugs for oncology and infectious diseases. NXTR sells AmBisome lipid amphotericin B to treat systemic fungal infections, and DaunoXome lipid daunorubicin for AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma. NXTR recorded sales of $50 million in the first half of 1998. ...