As reported on Biospace.com, PDL BioPharma announced that due to the inability to sell the company or a portion of the company’s biotechnology and discovery assets they will instead remain independent and downsize, cutting 260 jobs. PDL BioPharma owns proprietary antibody humanization technology that has been licensed to numerous companies, including Biogen Idec, Inc. They are a direct competitor with companies such as Medarex, as viewed by Medarex in their 10Q that “XOMA and PDL BioPharma both offer technologies to convert mouse antibodies into antibodies closely resembling human antibodies…( )PDL BioPharma,..( ) have generated therapeutic products that are currently in development or on the market and that are derived from recombinant DNA that comprise human antibody components.”

Spinning this downsize PDL BioPharma stated, “As a substantially more streamlined biotechnology organization, PDL will work to efficiently maximize the value of its core technical strengths and 21 years of antibody expertise, while successfully advancing its current portfolio and partnering, when appropriate, to maximize value, offset the costs and mitigate the risks of mid- to late-stage development,” said L. Patrick Gage, Ph.D., interim chief executive officer of PDL. “In addition to PDL’s technical competencies, our talented employees, who have continued to move our company forward during the strategic review, are a fundamental strength of our company, and I thank them for their ongoing dedication and hard work.”

At one time PDL BioPharma was considered an up and coming company with an exciting technology. However, the biotech company has wasted millions on research and development that lead no where and acquisitions that added little or no value to the company. PDL BioPharma’s products were acquired through the purchase of ESP Pharma. Of the three drugs ESP Pharma had on the market, the major revenue generating drug Cardene will be going generic in 2009. The biggest rung in PDL BioPharma’s ladder is Genentech. Genentech pays royalties to PDL for Avastin and Herceptin. Avastin has been and continues to be a very successful drug for Genentech and in proxy for PDL BioPharma. Even with the mismanagement of PDL it seems like they will continue to be a player in the humanized antibody market due to the coat tails of Genentech.