Baird:
You're asking for a treatise on combichem? :-)
Before Houghten was Houghten, it was Iterex Pharmaceuticals. That makes two name changes for a young pharma. They got off to a quick start, working with longer peptides than most early CCers, e.g., Affymax (now a part of Glaxo), Chiron, or Selectide (now Hoechst-Marrion-Roussel). However, they were trying to do stuff like make Magainin's big peptides more effective, and they were thus working with stuff that had little in vivo relevance (beyond, perhaps, topical). They seemed to be either slow on the learning curve, or intentionally hiding the defects in their business plan while spinning wheels. This "slow" period cost them dearly, but they seem to be back on track now.
ARQL versus PCOP? Ugh. Maybe later. If I did get into it, I'd just be spitting out what I've learned from a part-time participant in this thread, Mike Solomon. Maybe you can twist his arm? I like both companies.
Cheers! Rick |
