San Francisco-based biotech Medivation said it will cut 23 positions – a fifth of its staff – as part of a cost-cutting exercise in the wake of the failure of Alzheimer’s drug candidate dimebon, which the firm was partnering with Pfizer on. Medivation will continue to work on Alzheimer’s and Huntington disease applications for dimebon and on its MDV3100 for prostate cancer.
Hacker Group, a Seattle-based digital and direct marketing shop, announced that it is launching a health insurance marketing practice, dubbed HealthHG. The practice will be led by VP account services Jill Kaufman and chief strategist Tom Reid. Clients include Highmark Blue Shield, EmblemHealth and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama.
