11
March 18 at the American College of
Cardiology, Millennium's/NASDAQ:
MLNM (BSR #3: Prostate Cancer)
anti-clotting drug Integrilin works bet-
ter when combined with Aventis'
blood thinner Lovenox than with ge-
neric heparin. The study showed a
44% reduction in deaths or heart at-
tacks and a 5% chance of a heart at-
tack or death within 30 days of treat-
ment. The current treatment standard
for patients at high risk of heart attack
is a combination of Integrilin or
Merck's Aggrastat and a generic form
of the blood thinner heparin. This
study reinforces that IIb/IIIa inhibi-
tors work and that there is potential
growth for Integrilin or Aggrastat in
high-risk patients.
On March 20, Protein Design
Labs/NASDAQ: PDLI (BSR #18: Leu-
kemia) announced its plans to drop the
development of the drug, Zenapax, as
a maintenance therapy for psoriasis for
patients that were treated previously
with cyclosporine. The Phase II tests
showed that Zenapax as a treatment
for moderate-to-severe psoriasis did
not prolong the time to recurrence of
psoriasis. The market assumed Zena-
pax would fail for previously treated
psoriasis patients, and it was a relief
that Protein Design Labs' share price
did not falter. Besides, Protein Design
Labs will continue to evaluate other
options for Zenapax as a treatment for
psoriasis. In addition, the company is
exploring the use of Zenapax in other
indications, and currently there are
trials under way in asthma, multiple
sclerosis, type I diabetes and uveitis.
We did mentioned, Zenapax targets
activated lymphocytes involved with
autoimmune diseases so the product
has value and has a chance to suc-
ceed. Unfortunately, the company is
ance for ImClone's Erbitux cancer treat-
ment, giving Bristol-Myers an ex-
panded role in the clinical and strategic
development of the drug. Additionally,
Bristol will now pay ImClone a mile-
stone payment of $140 million when
the deal is signed and another $60 mil-
lion at the one-year anniversary of the
signing, rather than the $300 million
payment that had previously been part
of the deal. The revised agreement also
states that ImClone will receive the
originally agreed upon $500 million
milestone payment in two equal parts
with the FDA's approval of the drug,
and will also receive 39% of product
revenue in North America instead of
60%. The agreement will continue to
run through 2018.
On March 20, Alliance Pharmaceu-
tical/NASDAQ: ALLP and Inhale
Therapeutic/NASDAQ: INHL (BSR
#55: Diabetes) expanded their Pulmo S-
pheres technology agreement, giving
Inhale broader rights in exchange for
$5.25 million. Inhale acquired the parti-
cle and particle processing technology
from Alliance in November 1999. The
technology is designed to enhance the
performance of drugs delivered via the
lung. Inhale will pay Alliance future
milestone or royalty payments on a
reduced number of products devel-
oped by Inhale or its licensees using
the technology. Inhale's development
pipeline remains attractive and
should gain greater visibility in 2002
as several products advance in clini-
cal development. Nevertheless, over
the near-term, stock may remain in the
lower half of its trading range owing
to uncertain regulatory status of Exu-
bera (inhaled insulin). We'll maintain
our buy rating.
According to a study released on
FDA is acting too conservatively.
Nevertheless, we will maintain our
buy on Celgene.
On March 21, Cell Genesys/
NASDAQ: CEGE (BSR #25: Gene
Therapy) announced that it discontin-
ued the companies' research collabora-
tion and license agreement with GPC
Biotech AG (for p27/p16 gene therapy
for cancer and cardiovascular disease.
The decision to discontinue the agree-
ment reflects the reprioritization of pre-
clinical programs in cancer gene ther-
apy currently being pursued by Cell
Genesys. In addition, new treatments
for restenosis such as drug-coated
stents make this area less attractive to
compete in. Cell Genesys had been
conducting preclinical research studies
under the collaboration since 1998 and
no human clinical trials have been initi-
ated to date for any product candi-
dates arising from this collaboration.
On March 20, opening arguments
began in the second trial as Genen-
tech/NYSE: DNA (BSR #46: Breast
Cancer) denied it owes $457 million in
royalties on patent licenses that City
of Hope cancer center says were con-
cealed. City of Hope, a nonprofit can-
cer research and treatment center is
suing Genentech for royalties and back
interest it says the drug company was
obligated to pay under a 26-year-old
contract that helped kick-start the bio-
technology revolution. An earlier Los
Angeles Superior Court trial of the
claims ended last October in a dead-
locked jury. This trial is expected to
last as long as two months.
On March 5, Bristol-Myers Squibb
and ImClone/NASDAQ: IMCL (BSR
#39: Phase III Cancer) reworked the
terms of their commercialization alli-
BioTech Stock Report, April 2002
