More bad news for Canadian biotechs: Chemokine Therapeutics has decided to withdraw its public offering due to poor conditions in the financing market. The company is reducing its costs by laying off 65 percent of its workforce; those workers who are staying have agreed to a 10 percent salary reduction. In addition, Chemokine's CEO C. Richard Piazza has resigned and CFO Bashir Jaffer will serve as interim CEO. According to the release, Chemokine is "currently evaluating financing alternatives to fund ongoing activities." The company is developing chemokine-based therapies to treat cancer, blood disorders, and vascular diseases.
- see Chemokine's release for details