UPDATE 2-OncoMethylome loses partner, to focus on 3 cancers
* Loses partner for prostate cancer test
* To focus on tests for three cancers in U.S.
* Forecasts wider 2009 loss, reduced loss in 2010
* Q3 revenues down 24 pct, net loss widens by 41 pct
* Shares hit six-month low
(Adds analyst comment; updates shares)
BRUSSELS, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Belgian biotech company OncoMethylome (ONCOB.BR) unveiled plans to refocus its cancer diagnosis business and revealed it had lost a partner, pulling down its shares to a six-month low.
The company, which specialises in tests for early-stage cancers, said on Thursday that its partner, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) unit Veridex, would no longer develop or commercialise OncoMethylome's urine prostate cancer test.
OncoMethylome shares dropped as much as 7.1 percent in early trading to 5.23 euros, their lowest level since March 31 and making them the weakest performer on Euronext Brussels.
They had pulled back to 5.57 euros by 1245 GMT, a more modest drop of 1.1 percent. However, they have still lost all the gains made in late September since announcing positive results for a colon cancer blood test. [ID:nLL664827]
OncoMethylome's news comes two days after Johnson & Johnson announced it would slash its workforce. [ID:nN03485703].
"You see the effect of big pharma cleaning up their stores," said Oscar Izeboud, analyst at Kempen in Amsterdam.
"It's negative, but they are doing the right thing quickly. It makes a lot of sense to refocus."
The company said its main diagnostics business would focus on three clinical areas -- colorectal, prostate and bladder cancers. It would also emphasise market entry into the United States, meaning no build-up of its sales force in Europe.
Chief Financial Officer Philip Devine told Reuters the change was because its products were progressing to more expensive clinical phases and because marketing in Europe still required a largely single-country approach. Continued...
