Merry go-round

When Xenova Group plc (LSE:XEN; XNVA) set up its MetaXen LLC subsidiary in 1996, the aim was to build a drug discovery company that could speed XEN's internal discovery as well as take advantage of perceived opportunities to help other companies be more efficient in moving drug candidates into trials. But the companies ran short of time and money to accomplish their goals.

The original plans were altered last year as the equity markets softened and XEN decided to focus on its cancer and cardiovascular programs (see BioCentury, Sept. 14, 1998). The company's latest move is a restructuring of MetaXen (Hayward, Calif.), which follows on the heels of XEN's sale of its Xenova Discovery business to Terragen Discovery Inc. (see BioCentury, April 5)...