Growing up in the Deep South, I must confess that I’ve killed my share of copperhead moccasin snakes, and now it appears that I should regret these actions on my part. The reason for this seeking of atonement for my past actions is that I now find myself investing in a company that has its future tied to the venom from this serpent. The company is Nuvelo (NUVO) and their lead compound is Alfimeprase, a recombinantly produced truncated form of fibrolase that was first isolated from the venom of the copperhead.
(NUVO) was formed by the merger of Hyseq Pharmaceuticals and VARIAGENICS in 2003. As mentioned, their lead candidate alfimeprase is in Phase II testing and is partnered with Amgen in two indications, peripheral arterial occlusion (PAO) and catheter occlusion.
On January 12, 2004, (NUVO) announced the collaboration with Archemix for worldwide development and commercialization of Archemix’s thrombin inhibitor, ARAC183, for potential use in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and other anticoagulant applications.
With this deal announcement, (NUVO) will have two compounds in development with alfimeprase moving into Phase III probably by mid-year ’04.
The Chairman and a director of (NUVO) is Dr. George Rathmann. He was a co-founder of Amgen and a founder of ICOS Corporation. Previously he was associated with Abbott Laboratories as the director of Research and Development.
The President and CEO of (NUVO) is Dr. Ted Love, who previously was vice president of product development and regulatory affairs at Genentech where he oversaw the development of Herceptin and Rituxan. He served as Chairman of Genentech’s Product Development Committee.
IMO compelling data from the Phase I testing was presented at the Advanced Interventional Management (AIM) Symposium on November 18, 2003 in New York City. Phase II data is expected in the first half of this year, and Phase III trials to follow shortly after. There is an interesting abstract offered by Christopher Toombs, Product Development at Amgen, in Haemostasis in 2001. This leads me to believe that 2004 could be an exciting year for (NUVO) and for a stock trading at the current levels ($4.40) it could be the opportunity to invest in a biotech with a bright future.
I have a position in this stock and would welcome opinions from others. |
