British Biotech Drops Anti-Inflammatory

British Biotech announced last week that it had discontinued developmentof BB-2983, an oral anti-inflammatory drug, which had been licensed to Glaxo Wellcome. The drug had been in exploratory development for arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. The decision to pull the drug was made after unexpected side effects were seen in long-term preclinical toxicity studies.

Shares Fall The company was quick to stress that there was no impact on marimastat, BB's matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor for cancer, which is in several Phase III trials. Nevertheless, the stock dropped by 10% after the announcement to 134 pence. As the Marketletter went to press, the share price had fallen further to 127.5 pence.