Immune Shares Off 44% as Pfizer Ends Work

Shares of Immune Response Corp. plunged 44% after the company said its partner, Pfizer Inc., was discontinuing development of the experimental anti-HIV drug Remune.

Immune Response had signed a deal in 1998 with Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc., now a Pfizer unit, to co-develop the product, giving the firms an equal share of profit if the product gained approval and reached drugstores.

Since then, Immune Response has received $47 million from Pfizer and Agouron to develop Remune, said Laura Hansen, a spokeswoman for the Carlsbad-based company.

Hansen said Immune Response has projected adequate cash to fund its operations through the end of 2001, including continued trials necessary before seeking regulatory approval of Remune.

The company’s shares fell $2.01 to close at $2.58 on Nasdaq.