Guilford to drop Aggrastat
GLFD was off $0.18 to $2.16 on 1.1 million shares on Wednesday after announcing that it plans to divest or partner cardiovascular drug Aggrastat tirofiban because of competition and the substantial investment required to develop the compound further. The company will now focus on its Gliadel Wafer carmustine implant, which is marketed to treat malignant glioma, and on developing sedative/hypnotic Aquavan propofol.
GLFD acquired U.S. rights to Aggrastat from Merck (MRK) in 2003 for $84 million in cash (see BioCentury Extra, Wednesday Nov. 3, 2004). In 2004, the GPIIb/IIIa (CD41/CD61) antagonist posted $12.5 million in revenue. The compound is approved to treat patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) with or without delayed percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). GLFD was pursuing a label expansion to include immediate PCI. ...