IDM outlines big layoff in restructuring plan

Two weeks after it was jilted in a key drug collaboration deal, IDM Pharma filed papers with the SEC saying it will lay off 60 percent of its workers at core facilities in Paris and Irvine, CA. IDM--which is based in Irvine--had already announced plans to restructure as it shelved a development program for the melanoma drug Uvidem and ratcheted back on its work regarding L-MTP-PE for osteosarcoma. The restructuring should be done earlier this year.

There's still no exact figure, though, on how many IDM workers will get a pink slip. IDM announced at the end of December that Sanofi-Aventis had decided to pull out of a partnership on Uvidem, leaving all rights for the drug with IDM.