Cypress Bio slashes staff and dumps co-promo deal

Cypress Bioscience is opting out of its right to co-promote the fibromyalgia drug Savella with Forest Laboratories and has decided to either shutter or sell its personalized meds business by the end of September. The San Diego-based developer added that it is slashing 123 workers--86 percent of its employees--in a restructuring aimed at drastically reducing its costs, racking up about $4.5 million in costs as it grabs a $2 million payment from Forest. The biotech's clinical-stage programs include BL-1020 for cognitive impairment in schizophrenia as well as AVISE-SLE, a lupus diagnostic testing service. Cypress Release