Targanta's new drug

[Anonymous]

It seems everyone is going to beat this drug to market. Targanta's approval date is scheduled for Dec 8th

[Anonymous]

I don't think Targanta has any good news after the subcommittee said "no".


http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=TARG#chart2:symbol=targ;range=1m;indicat or=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0 ;logscale=on

[Anonymous]

Targanta is even more screwed-up than Basilea if that's possible. I spoke with people at both companies and neither was really looking do this right even if they got approval. You can call yoursf a start-up biotech all you want. Both companies were only going to atract and hire primary care reps or IV reps from Pfizer or Wyeth ect. Both ultimately got what they deserved.

[Anonymous]

Targanta is even more screwed-up than Basilea if that's possible. I spoke with people at both companies and neither was really looking do this right even if they got approval. You can call yoursf a start-up biotech all you want. Both companies were only going to atract and hire primary care reps or IV reps from Pfizer or Wyeth ect. Both ultimately got what they deserved.

I am so sorry I wasted my time driving to Columbus for this one. What a loser this will be.
Big pharma is still the most professional, ethical, stable place to be if you are good enough to be retained.

[Anonymous]

Targanta to lay off 75 percent of staff
Boston Business Journal

Targanta Therapeutics will shrink from 115 employees to just 30 workers. The news follows the FDA’s rejection of Targanta’s drug target designed to combat so-called super-bugs including MRSA ( methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) infection.

Targanta CEO Mark Leuchtenberger says, “This is disappointing to us. It’s a wonderful team that brought us almost to the finish line and we will be working to help them find new opportunities.”

Leuchtenberger says the move reflects an acceptance that the company must go back to the drawing board and conduct a new Phase three trial for their drug target, oritavancin. “We are no longer a pre-commercial company. We are back to being a Phase three company, and that requires us to right-size and to streamline our operations,” Leuchtenberg said.

Leuchtenberger estimates the new Phase 3 trial will cost at least 20 million dollars and take one to two years to complete.

Targanta is actively seeking new funding opportunities, including a possible partnership with a large biotechnology or pharmaceutical company. The company is optimistic that its drug will gain approval in Europe in the second half of 2009, where it is currently halfway through a regulatory review.

At the end of the third quarter, Targanta Therapeutics had $42.6 million of cash on hand and spent $47 million in the first nine months of 2008.

Targanta estimates that if approved, the market for oritavancin would be at least $1 billion.