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Biotech / Medical : IDPH--Positive preliminary results for pivotal trial of ID
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To: Rick Costantino who wrote (28)9/13/1996 9:44:00 PM
From: I. Luttichuys   of 1762
 
Rick,

I haven't really written to anyone on the net before but was quite interested to see some individuals following IDEC. I have a large position and will not sell under any circumstances. I just add to it on the dips. I am in medical school. There is alot of talk with respect to the very technology IDEC is using in its approach to its non-hodgkins lymphoma therapy. I am familiar with their press releases and have discussed them with some physician friends. Seems if things are working out as these releases tell, this is quite an approach and will make IDEC money.
Interesting is the fact some of patients in trial are now bcl-2 negative. I don't know what you know about it but I believe that traditional chemo-therapy has never had the same result. Bcl-2 is a protien which prevents defective cells from undergoing apoptosis (Cell's way of killing itself when it becomes defective in effort to save the whole organism) In lymphoma, the presence of this protein after chemotherapy has been correlated highly with relapse as protein can prevent any remaining defective (cancerous) cells from initiating suicide so that they go on to reproduce and lead to lymphoma relapse. If IDEC's drug can make patients bcl-2 negative they may have a better statistical chance of avoiding relapse.
Also impressive are the numbers of patients in the study which are responding to therapy. It is my understanding that the test subjects are "refractory" patients in whom other methods such as traditional chemotherapeutic approach had failed. Of course IDEC's therapy is administered on an outpatient basis and thus leads to less hospitalization time in a world where HMO systems are very interested in avoiding hospitalization when possible. With traditional chemotherapy patients are kept in the hospital because their body radiation levels exceed federal standards for exposure to others.
They therefore must be kept in the hospital until they "cool off".
IDEC uses yttrium which is not so radioactive and so patients can leave the hospital almost immediately. Not to mention the fact that associated side affects appear tame by traditional chemotherapeutic standards.
In the medical community this is state of the art and IDEC appears to be the first in line with it.
Genentech and SmithKline also appear confident.

BENNETT

PS: You may very well be already aware of all this but let me know what you think
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