QLT restructures, cuts 115 jobs and focuses on derm technology

Boston

- QLT, a biopharmaceutical company, has cut 45 percent of its overall headcount in alignment with a strategic restructuring plan, where they will shift their ongoing business focus to its Visudyne franchise and clinical development programs related to photodynamic therapy dermatology technology and punctual plug delivery technology, CNNMoney.com reports.

The Vancouver, Canada-based company will sell QLT USA as part of the restructuring. The primary assets being sold here are Aczone, a product used to treat acne vulgaris, as well as Eligard, a prostate cancer product line, and the Atrigel drug delivery system, according to RTTNews.

The company expects to record a restructuring charge of about 7.5 million in 2008 and says further force reductions will occur later in the year as the company’s assets are divested.