Shaman Pharmaceuticals (South San Francisco, CA) has halted its pharmaceuticals business, reduced its work force 65%, and regrouped to focus on its private botanicals business. The news came after a meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration (Rockville, MD) at the end of January concerning the development of its most advanced drug, Provir, for the treatment of diarrhea in AIDS. Shaman says it faces "a significant delay in bringing its first pharmaceutical to market." As a result Shaman's share price fell below $1, prompting a delisting from Nasdaq on February 2. The company, which based its drug development efforts on compounds developed from medicinal plants, states that it will conserve cash and focus on its botanicals unit, which develops nutraceutical supplements derived from tropical plants. Shaman, which plans to license or sell off some of its pharmaceutical and research programs, says that after establishing a successful botanicals business it may move toward public trading.