EVANSTON, Ill., May 9 (UPI) -- An Illinois experimental biotech company says it's closing its doors after failing to win U.S. government approval for its blood substitute.
Northfield Laboratories Inc., of Evanston, Ill., said Friday it is virtually ending its operations, saying it had "terminated the employment of substantially all of its operational and staff employees," The Chicago Tribune reported.
The newspaper said Northfield had been working for 20 years on a blood substitute designed for trauma patients. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve its product last week, dealing an apparently fatal blow to the biotech firm.
Company officials indicated Northfield has burned through $220 million since its inception in 1985 trying to develop the blood substitute.
