Denver Post as posted on Yahoo thread. (It's too bad the significance of the news got lost in the hype created by the PR firm).
Taking stock in 'news' sends Ribozyme shares on wild ride
By Eric Hubler
Denver Post Business Writer
Nov. 17 - Shares in Boulder-based Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. surged Tuesday after an unusual news release promised unspecified "history-making" news about its experimental cancer drug, Angiozyme. The stocks then fell back after the company issued a clarification revealing that the big news was the start of previously announced clinical trials.
Monday's release, put out for RPI by California public-relations firm Freeman/McCue, trumpeted Angiozyme's "recent history-making leap, an achievement which may be of great significance to cancer patients everywhere," and invited reporters to a news conference at a Denver hotel today. The Nasdaq stock closed Monday at $10.063, opened Tuesday at $13.625 and shot to $22 before the market halted trading for an hour and a half. RPI issued another release spilling what was to have been today's surprise - that Phase II clinical trials began in Cleveland last week - and the stock closed at $12.25.
Freeman/McCue referred questions about Monday's release to Ralph E. Christoffersen, Ribozyme's CEO. "When what ap peared to be speculation started, we said, "Look, let's put a halt to that and suspend trading until everyone has a chance to see the release,'- " he said.
RPI's development partner, biotechnology company Chiron Corp., said RPI's claim of progress was premature. "It's early," Chiron spokesman Maurice Wolin told Bloomberg News. "We don't know if we're going to break ground here or not."
Even after Tuesday's flap, Christoffersen had an appealing story to tell about Angiozyme. In recently concluded Phase I trials in Texas and Nebraska, the drug was shown to be safe, with few side effects, unlike most other cancer medicines, he said.
The new round of trials seeks to prove whether the drug is also effective. About 25 patients with different kinds of cancer are taking varying doses of Angiozyme over 28 days by daily injection.
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