Preamble..... there sure are a lot of people associated with this company who seem to be making an all-or-none bet with career and/or large sums of cash.......
OK, been looking at this sucker all day. I had noted the homocysteine studies for some time, but had only recently put them together with a company (TSND). Today's press regarding the Safety Monitoring Board made me want to look closer. It (TSND) appears to be the mother crap-shoot of all crap-shoots. I would guess that, if the sample size for the phase III is not adjusted upward from 352 in April, we'll see about $20/share in the blink of an eye. On the other hand, if the number is adjusted up, I'd say that downside (and near-term) risk is limited...... I'll estimate $5. So, if this matchbook cover analysis is to be believed (you'd need be an idiot), the risk reward could be very favorable for the next month. I'll start to post random background material. Here's an excerpt from the prospectus, 7/97......
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
The current executive officers and directors of the Company are as follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
NAME AGE POSITION
- ------------------------------------- ---- -----------------------------------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Hector J. Gomez, M.D., Ph.D. ........ 58 President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
John J. Whalen, M.D. ................ 50 Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific
Officer
B. Nicholas Harvey .................. 37 Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial
Officer and Secretary
Jerry T. Jackson(1).................. 56 Chairman of the Board
Philippe Chambon, M.D., Ph.D.(1)..... 39 Director
Frank L. Douglas, M.D., Ph.D.(2)..... 54 Director
Richard W. Hunt, C.P.A.(2)........... 42 Director
William C. Mills III(2).............. 41 Director
Gerard M. Moufflet(1)................ 53 Director
</TABLE>
- ---------------
(1) Member of the Compensation Committee.
(2) Member of the Audit Committee.
HECTOR J. GOMEZ, M.D., PH.D. has served as President, Chief Executive
Officer and a director of the Company since November 1994. He previously served
as Vice President of Medical Affairs at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a
rational drug design company, from May 1992 to November 1994. From December 1991
to May 1992, Dr. Gomez served as Associate Vice President at Immunomedics, Inc.,
a biotechnology company. From December 1988 to December 1991, he served as
Executive Director of Cardiovascular Clinical Research at Ciba-Geigy Corporation
("Ciba-Geigy"), a pharmaceutical company. Previously, Dr. Gomez served as
Director of Clinical Research from 1979 to 1984, and as Senior Director of
Clinical Research from 1985 to December 1988, at Merck & Co., Inc. ("Merck"), a
pharmaceutical company. During his tenures at Merck and Ciba-Geigy, Dr. Gomez
successfully directed the clinical development phase of ten NDAs. His
accomplishments include the management of the clinical program, from IND filing
through marketing approval, for enalapril (Vasotec(R)) and lisinopril
(Prinivil(R) and Zestril(R)), cardiovascular products. Dr. Gomez received his
M.D. from National University in Bogota, Colombia, his Ph.D. in Pharmacology
from Marquette University and his Diploma in Clinical Pharmacology from Tulane
University.
JOHN J. WHALEN, M.D. has served as Senior Vice President and Chief
Scientific Officer of the Company since October 1995. In addition, he has served
as Chairman of the Company's Scientific Advisory Board since October 1995. From
1990 to 1995, he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the
Pharmaceutical Division at Alpha Therapeutic Corporation, a pharmaceutical
company. He has also held senior management positions as Vice President of
Clinical Research at G.H. Besselaar Associates ("Besselaar") and as Director of
Clinical Research for Cardiovascular/Renal Products at Merck, Sharp & Dohme
Research Laboratories. Dr. Whalen has an extensive background in directing
clinical trials at Besselaar, Merck and Alpha Therapeutic Corporation. Dr.
Whalen's achievements include the clinical development of Fluosol(R),
Lotensin(R), Vasotec I.V.(R), Oncolym(R) and Venoglobulin S(R). Dr. Whalen
received his B.S. in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his M.D.
from the University of Virginia and participated in a pulmonary fellowship at
New York University.
B. NICHOLAS HARVEY has served as Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial
Officer and Secretary of the Company since December 1992. From February 1992 to
December 1992, he was Treasurer at The Computer Power Group, a computer services
and software company. From May 1986 to February 1989, he was Executive Director
at Brunckhorst & Co., an Australian investment firm that he helped to found.
43
<PAGE> 45
Mr. Harvey received his B.Econ. and LL.B. from the Australian National
University and his M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School in 1991.
JERRY T. JACKSON has served as Chairman of the Board of the Company since
May 1996 and has been a director of the Company since September 1995. He was an
Executive Vice President of Merck from January 1993 until his retirement in
January 1995. During 1994, Mr. Jackson had responsibility for Merck's
International Human Health, Vaccines, AgVet and Astra/Merck U.S. divisions and
for worldwide marketing. In 1993, he also served as President of the Merck Human
Health Division and from February 1986 to December 1992, Mr. Jackson was Senior
Vice President at Merck. Mr. Jackson also serves as a director of Cor
Therapeutics, Inc., SunPharm Corporation and Molecular Biosystems, Inc.
PHILIPPE O. CHAMBON, M.D., PH.D. has been a director of the Company since
November 1995. Dr. Chambon has been with Sprout Group ("Sprout"), a venture
capital firm, since May 1995 and currently serves as General Partner. From May
1993 to April 1995, Dr. Chambon served as a Manager in the Healthcare Practice
of The Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm. Dr. Chambon was an
executive with Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corp., a leading pharmaceutical company,
from September 1987 to April 1993, most recently serving as the Executive
Director of New Product Management.
FRANK L. DOUGLAS, M.D., PH.D. has been a director of the Company since
September 1995. Dr. Douglas has been Chief Research Officer for Hoechst Marion
Roussel, A.G. since May 1997 and was Global Head of Research for Hoescht from
1995 to 1997. Prior to its acquisition by Hoechst Marion Roussel, Dr. Douglas
was Executive Vice President of the Research and Development Division and served
as a director at Marion Merrell Dow, Inc. from 1992 to 1995. In 1992, he was
also an Adjunct Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of
Kansas. In 1991, Dr. Douglas was a Vice President and Partner of the Biocine
Company, a joint venture between Ciba-Geigy and Chiron. From 1988 to 1991, he
was Senior Vice President and Director of Research for Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceutical
Corp.
RICHARD W. HUNT, C.P.A. has been a director of the Company since November
1995. Mr. Hunt is Vice President, Corporate Development of Baxter International
Inc., a worldwide developer and manufacturer of health care products and
systems. Since January 1982, Mr. Hunt has held various positions with Baxter
International Inc. From November 1978 to January 1982, Mr. Hunt served in
various senior level financial positions with Searle Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
WILLIAM C. MILLS III has been a director of the Company since April 1994
and was Chairman of the Board from April 1994 to May 1996. He served as interim
Chief Executive Officer of the Company from April 1994 to November 1994. Since
1988, Mr. Mills has been a General Partner of FH&Co. III, L.P., which is a
General Partner of The Venture Capital Fund of New England ("VCFNE"), a venture
capital firm. From 1981 until 1988, he served as a Managing General Partner and
General Partner at PaineWebber Ventures/Ampersand, a venture capital firm. Mr.
Mills also serves as a director of Cytogen Corporation, where he served as
Chairman of the Board from January 1995 to May 1996.
GERARD M. MOUFFLET has been a director of the Company since April 1994.
Since September 1989, Mr. Moufflet has been Senior Vice President in charge of
the medical sector for Advent International Corporation ("Advent"), a private
equity investment firm. Prior to joining Advent, Mr. Moufflet served as
Corporate Vice President in charge of Baxter International and spent 17 years in
various marketing, financial and general management positions. He also serves as
a director of Curative Health Services, Inc. |
