Struggling Arena Pharma axes 80 jobs, narrows R&D

Just a couple of weeks after booting company co-founder and CEO Jack Lief out of the company, a struggling Arena Pharmaceuticals ($ARNA) has followed up with a move to ax 35% of its staff--some 80 jobs--while narrowing its R&D focus. Arena has been losing market share with its obesity drug Belviq, which has proved to be a troublesome therapy to market. The focus at Arena now will be on "near-term" activities. Company shares are down 8% this morning. More cuts are also on the way. Release