Glaxo ditches rest of Maxygen stake

12th Mar 2010 07:20

Global pharmaceuticals leviathan GlaxoSmithKline has dumped the rest of its holding in former subsidiary Maxygen.Glaxo said it no longer owns any shares in the US-based protein drug developer after selling its entire holding of 1.433m shares. The shares, which represented around 4.5% of the issued share capital of Maxygen, were held by its wholly owned subsidiaries Glaxo Group Limited and GlaxoSmithKline Services Unlimited.The US was originally part of Glaxo Wellcome, but was hived off to become an independent company, with Glaxo retaining a 50% stake. GlaxoSmithKline has been steadily reducing its investment in Maxygen, having sold 5.12m shares in the company at the end of 2009.