Washington Editor

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. is cutting 111 employees in a restructuring effort aimed at investing more resources into promising drug candidates already in the company's pipeline.

Staff reductions primarily will be within the early discovery programs at the main headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., and the facility in San Diego. Cambridge will lose about 65 people, while San Diego is scheduled to let go 46 employees. The Oxford, UK, facility, which employs about 100 people, will not be impacted by the cuts.

When it's all over, Vertex's staff will drop from 848 to 737. Michael Partridge, Vertex's director of corporate communications, told BioWorld Today the company will discuss financial effects of the restructuring when it releases its second-quarter results July 24.

In the meantime, Vertex intends to focus on its healthy pipeline while it awaits the FDA decision on its HIV drug nicknamed "908."

Partridge said the restructuring will not impact any drugs in development. "In fact, the restructuring is to prepare ourselves for the investments we need to make in the products that are in development in the clinic," he said.

Vertex has four Phase II products. They are pralnacasan, a cytokine inhibitor partnered with Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Bridgewater, N.J., for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis; VX702, a p38 MAP kinase inhibitor for acute coronary syndrome; VX148, an inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) inhibitor for psoriasis; and VX497, also a IMPDH inhibitor, for hepatitis C.

Partridge said Vertex has a number of other candidates in preclinical and Phase I studies.

He also referred to a press release in which the company described its drug discovery efforts going forward. Vertex intends to target four areas: kinases, with applications in cancer, inflammation and autoimmune, neurological and metabolic diseases; caspases, for acute and chronic inflammatory and autoimmune conditions such as sepsis and acute cardiovascular disease; ion channels and G protein-coupled receptors, for neuropathic pain; and novel targets for viral and bacterial infections such as protease inhibitors for hepatitis C, and novel inhibitors of DNA gyrase for bacterial infections.

As of March 31, Vertex reported $680 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. Vertex's burn rate guidance, as stated in the first-quarter financials, was $100 million to $120 million for the year, Partridge said.

Regarding 908 (also known as VX-175) for HIV, Partridge said Vertex and partner GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, expect regulatory approval and launch in the fourth quarter. The drug, which should receive a trade name soon, Partridge said, is a prodrug of Agenerase (amprenavir), an approved protease inhibitor co-marketed by the companies. 908 is touted as a new compound with a similar profile to Agenerase, but with more potency and better convenience.

908 reduces viral replication, consequently lowering the amount of virus circulating in the blood. It is dosed as two tablets, once or twice daily. The companies filed the new drug application in December. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 23, 2003.)

Vertex's stock (NASDAQ:VRTX) closed Wednesday at $16.40, up 91 cents.