Lion ends discovery business

Lion bioscience (NMarkt:LIO; LEON) said it will terminate its iD3 drug discovery business by the end of the year in order to focus on its bioinformatics business and reach break even by the end of fiscal 2003-2004. The move, which LEON expects will save it up to $20 million annually, is no surprise, as the company announced in June its intentions to seek alternatives for the information technology-based drug discovery unit (see BioCentury, June 10, 2002). LIO now will focus on providing informatics solutions to the life science industry. LIO expects to cut staff numbers to 400 from 500 by year end and to approximately 350 by the end of 2003. The company also will close its facilities in San Diego, Calif. and Heidelberg, Germany. LEON received the San Diego facility via its 2001 purchase of ADMET company Trega for $11.7 million in stock. ...