SiliconBeat

Maxygen, the Redwood City biotech company that hired Lazard last October to help it explore “strategic options” about the same time it laid off 30 percent of its staff, announced plans today for a deal with Astellas Pharma of Japan that will transfer most of its research and development operations and personnel to the a new joint venture funded by $10 million co-payments by both companies.

Maxygen will contribute substantially all of its Read the rest of this entry »

A month after it announced plans to cut 30 percent of its staff during the first quarter of 2009 “in order to preserve cash”, Maxygen released details today about bonuses being paid to its top officers, including $200,000 for its chief executive Russell Howard.

Eighty percent of the 2008 cash bonus plan was based on company performance while the remaining 20 percent was “discretionary”. Total performance goals were Read the rest of this entry »

In a move to preserve cash, Maxygen said Wednesday it plans to cut its staff by 30 percent in the first quarter next year, a move that will leave it with some 65 employees when it is completed. The Redwood City biotechnology company said it will stage staggered terminations during the quarter beginning in January in both its operational and general-and-administrative departments. The company said it would provide “outplacement support and a severance package for each affected employee.”

Maxygen has also “retained Read the rest of this entry »