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Here is some news. The company HAS NOT posted a profit yet. They
may be getting close. The company does trade options. The open
interest is VERY WEAK and only 2% of the company is held by
institutions. The current stock price has skyrocketed and without
positive earnings it's doubtful the price can be sustained at current
levels. The data distorted the RSI and Bollinger Bands by the extreme
price swings. Lots of speculation! It may be worth keeping an eye on
the stock. It's a bit risky for my IRA. I would pass for other sure
hits like BTGC or VVUS. I hate to lose money and time!
SAN RAMON, Calif., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- SuperGen, Inc.
(Nasdaq: SUPG & SUPGW), an emerging pharmaceutical company, today
announced it has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to a patented
anti-cancer compound from the Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research
Houston, TX) in exchange for an up-front payment of SuperGen common
stock valued at $2.5 million, ongoing collaborative development
payments, additional milestone equity payments and royalties on
eventual product sales.
The drug (a topoisomerase I inhibitor which has been designated
"RFS 2000" by the company) is patented and is a semi-synthetic
derivative of a naturally occurring plant alkaloid with cancer-killing
properties. It is extracted from the bark and leaves of the
camptotheca acuminata tree, which is native to China.
RFS 2000 currently is in Phase II human trials for pancreatic
cancer, for which Orphan Drug Status already has been obtained from
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As compared to rates observed
with the standard treatment, in clinical trials conducted to date RFS
2000 has shown marked improvement in survival rate and quality of
life, even in late-stage patients. At therapeutic dosages, adverse
effects in these patients appear to be minimal.
While the company initially will focus on accelerating clinical
development for pancreatic cancer, the agreement grants SuperGen
worldwide rights to RFS 2000 for all indications. Like Taxol(R), in
various animal tumor models, RFS 2000 has anti-tumor effects in a
number of solid tumors, including breast, lung, ovarian, melanoma and
colorectal. However, unlike Taxol(R), RFS 2000 can be given orally
and the company believes has a much more favorable safety profile.
It is estimated that there were more than 100,000 new cases of
pancreatic cancer in the world in 1996. Because pancreatic cancer
cannot be diagnosed until the late stages of the disease, it is
regarded as one of the most difficult cancers to treat, and it is the
fourth leading cause of all cancer deaths. Fewer than 20% of all
patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive for more than one
year.
"We believe RFS 2000 is a breakthrough compound for pancreatic and
many other cancer patients," said Dr. Joseph Rubinfeld, SuperGen's
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We believe that for many
companies, RFS 2000 could by itself be the platform for a successful
oncology business. SuperGen is committed to establishing the
leadership position in oncology with marketed products like Nipent(R),
our medium-term Extra(TM) formulations of existing anti-cancer drugs,
and RFS 2000. Through collaborations with cutting-edge research
institutions like the Stehlin Foundation we will continue to build
and maintain that leadership."
"SuperGen is the perfect partner to move RFS 2000 through clinical
development," said Dr. John S. Stehlin, Jr., Founder of the Stehlin
Foundation. "SuperGen combines the level of senior management
experience of a large pharmaceutical company with the drive and sense
of urgency of an entrepreneurial biotechnology company."
The Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research at St. Joseph Hospital
in Houston, Texas was founded in 1969, and since that time has had as
its primary focus the discovery and development of new and improved
anti-cancer drugs.
Its research laboratory has the largest number of human tumors in
storage in the world and has in the past supplied approximately 75%
of the human tumors used by the National Cancer Institute in their
testing with nude mice. The Stehlin Foundation pioneered the use of
nude mice in cancer research, establishing a correlation between an
anti-cancer drug's effectiveness on a human tumor implanted in a mouse
and the drug's effectiveness in patients.
Based in San Ramon, California, SuperGen is an emerging
pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and
commercialization of products intended to treat life-threatening
diseases, particularly cancer and blood cell disorders, as well as
other serious conditions such as obesity and diabetes. SuperGen is
developing an anti-cancer portfolio of proprietary and enhanced Extra
(TM) products, and currently is marketing five drugs for the treatment
of cancer patients. The company also currently is sponsoring human
clinical trials for drugs targeting cancer, anemias, obesity and
diabetes.
This press release contains forward looking statements within the
meaning of Section 21A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and
are subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Such statements,
including the ongoing clinical development and commercialization of
RFS 2000 and SuperGens goal of leadership in oncology involve certain
risks and uncertainties associated with a development stage
pharmaceutical company. Actual results could differ materially from
those projected in the forward looking statements as a result of
failure to obtain regulatory approval for RFS 2000 in pancreatic
cancer, failure to establish clinical benefit for RFS 2000 in other
indications and failure to obtain regulatory approval for other
SuperGen products in the development phase, as well as other risk
factors discussed in SuperGen's reports on file with the U.S.
Securities Exchange Commission (including but not limited to the
report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 1997).
SOURCE SuperGen Inc.
-0- 09/04/97
/CONTACT: Les Stickles of SuperGen, Inc., 510-327-0200, ext. 210/
(SUPG)
CO: SuperGen Inc.
ST: California
IN: MTC CHM
SU:
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