SmithKline Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based SmithKline...

SmithKline Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based SmithKline Beckmann, has canceled a licensing and research and development contract with San Diego-based Synbiotics, the companies said Monday.

The cancellation did not affect “activities in anti-idiotypic antibodies, the core technology of the company,” Synbiotics President Edward Maggio said Monday. “Our animal health programs are similarly unaffected by this development.”

The SmithKline Diagnostics contract was “our vehicle for entry into the physicians’ office diagnostic market,” Maggio said. “This was a spinoff or outgrowth of what we mainly do in our labs. . . . . It was not a major thrust of our research and development.”

SmithKline had made license payments to Synbiotics of $850,000, Maggio said. Synbiotics used the initial funding to expand its manufacturing space and hire new employees, Maggio said.

“I don’t see an enormous impact on the company,” Maggio said. “We have to examine implications internally and make some changes in how projects are staffed. There will be some reassignments.”

Maggio said the cancellation might be linked to top-level management changes at SmithKline Diagnostics, where the president recently resigned, and at SmithKline Beckmann, the parent company, where the chief operating officer recently left.

The two companies will meet next month to discuss additional payments required by the agreement, Maggio said.