UPDATE 1-Cadence to stop development of catheter-infection drug
* Infection drug fails late-stage trial
* Q4 loss/shr 37 cents vs loss of 50 cents last year
* Shares fall 4 pct after the bell
March 12 (Reuters) - Cadence Pharmaceuticals Inc (CADX.O) said it would stop the development of its drug for the prevention of catheter-related infections, after it failed to meet the primary goal of a late-stage trial.
Cadence shares fell to $5.97 in trading after the bell. They closed at $6.20 Thursday on Nasdaq.
Cadence said the main goal of the study was to demonstrate the superiority of its topical gel, Omigard, compared to povidone-iodine for the prevention of local catheter-site infections.
The company said it will now cut costs and restructure its operations to make additional resources available for its lead product Acetavance for the treatment of acute pain and fever in adults.
Cadence expects to reduce operating expenses by about $13 million to $15 million to a range of $43 million to $48 million in 2009.
For the fourth quarter, the company reported a net loss of $14.0 million compared with a net loss of $14.2 million a year earlier.
For the alerts, double-click [ID:nWEN5911] [ID:nWNAB3494] (Reporting by Anand Basu in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)
