|
|
|
Uploaded: Tuesday, March 19, 2013, 9:49 AM
Palo Alto pharma company lays off 230, considers bankruptcy
|
|
by Eric Van Susteren
Palo Alto Weekly Staff
Affymax, a Palo Alto-based pharmaceutical company, announced March 18 that it would lay off approximately 230 employees -- 75 percent of its workforce -- and is considering sale of the company or bankruptcy.
The move follows a nationwide recall of the Omontys, a drug used to treat anemia in kidney dialysis patients, some who exhibited "hypersensitivity reactions."
The news drove the company's value to $1.07, its lowest since 2006.
The company and its Osaka, Japan-based partner, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., recalled the drug in February after it found that about .2 percent of its users had hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis "requiring prompt medical intervention and sometimes hospitalization."
The Food and Drug Administration stated in February that it found 19 cases of severe hypersensitivity, three of which were fatal.
The company, located 4001 Miranda Ave., near Henry M. Gunn High School, stated that it is investigating the issue with the Food and Drug Administration and has instructed health care providers not to administer the drug to any more patients.
"I would like to sincerely thank all of our departing employees and recognize their important and valued contributions to the company," said Affymax CEO John Orwin of the layoffs. "While this decision was extremely difficult, aligning and managing our limited resources around our product investigation is our most important priority."
Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
|
|
| Comments
|
Posted by Wondering?, a resident of the Fairmeadow neighborhood, on Mar 19, 2013 at 8:33 pm The Drug companies say that it sometimes takes 10 years to get a drug through development, testing, trials and approval. It would be interesting to know how long this drug took, from inception to FDA approvals. Would also be interesting to know what the FDA will change any of its testing methodologies to hopefully detect this sort of possible outcome for drugs in their approval pipeline.
|
|
Posted by Sieur de L'Enfer, a resident of the Palo Alto Hills neighborhood, on Mar 20, 2013 at 7:49 am Doesn't the FDA bear some resposibility for what happened to users of this drug?
|
|
Posted by the upper end - non sieur, a resident of the Palo Alto Hills neighborhood, on Mar 20, 2013 at 9:18 am The FDA is the organization that actually tracked and compiled the data that caused the drug to be pulled off the market (not Affymax.)
Why does the FDA bear some "resposibility"?
|
|
Posted by local gurl, a resident of the Charleston Meadows neighborhood, on Mar 20, 2013 at 12:00 pm Sometimes these things don't show up in the test population. It's all about statistics.
|
|
Posted by whose fault, a resident of the Greater Miranda neighborhood, on Mar 20, 2013 at 2:46 pm Isn't the FDA partly responsible, since they cleared the drug for use?
|
|
Posted by musical, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Mar 20, 2013 at 4:08 pm How beneficial was this drug to the other 99.8% of the patients?
|
|
Posted by Steve C, a resident of Menlo Park, on Mar 21, 2013 at 7:44 am My thoughts go to the people who lost their incomes. Around these parts, that's the kiss of death.
|
|
|
| |
Best Website
First Place
2009-2012
|
Send this story
Print this story
