Anadys returns ANA380 rights, restructures

ANDS announced plans to restructure and discontinue development of ANA380, a nucleotide analog viral polymerase inhibitor in Phase II testing to treat HBV. The announcement follows last Friday's news that ANDS and partner Novartis (NVS; SWX:NOVN) were dropping ANA975, a prodrug of isatoribine, a toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist, to treat HCV (See BioCentury Extra, Friday, July 27, 2007).

ANDS will cut headcount by 30 (33%) to 60 and halt work on early discovery projects, including its HIV entry inhibitor. As part of the restructuring, Devron Averett will depart as CSO. He will become a member of the company's clinical and scientific advisory board. ...