Facing a verity

Actelion Ltd. doesn't know why Veletri tezosentan failed in the Phase III VERITAS 1 and 2 trials, the company's second set of Phase III studies for acute heart failure (AHF). However, the failure means that the company will have to find new ways to generate growth beyond 2007, which is when Veletri would have hit the market.

To do this, Actelion will re-allocate resources to focus on selling its marketed compounds, Tracleer bosentan for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and Zavesca N-butyldeoxynojirimycin glucosyltransferase to treat Gaucher's disease. In addition, the company will accelerate development of clazosentan for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)...