CNTO edges out of 'hand-to-mouth' era

CNTO edges out of 'hand-to-mouth' era Centocor Inc. put in place another piece in its plan to find partners for its products, announcing on Friday that it signed a letter of intent with Wellcome plc to develop and market Panorex and six other monoclonal antibodies for cancer.

CNTO's strategy, since it suspended a second Phase III trial of its HA-1A sepsis antibody in January and laid off its U.S. sales force in February, has been to develop and manufacture its compounds and then find marketing partners. "This is a major step from that hand-to-mouth treadmill," said David Holveck, president and CEO. "It allows us to move in a more offensive fashion."...