COMPANY DROPS DRUG MAKING, SWITCHES TO HERB REMEDIES

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO -- Shaman Pharmaceuticals, which searches rain
forests for new drugs, will fire 60 people, two-thirds of its workforce.

The company said it has pulled out of the drug business after spending
more than $90 million in 10 years.

It will still continue looking for rain-forest herbs, but it will sell
herbal remedies instead of drugs.

The company said it can't afford to meet Food and Drug Administration
requirements that it do more tests of a proposed drug.

It said on Tuesday that it plans to create a new, wholly owned private
company, Shaman Botanicals.

Compiled from staff and wire reports by Mercury News Staff Writer
Elise Banducci.