ARIA...is there more to this story
The ‘billion dollar' quote
by: Aurileano
1/11/00 11:41 pm
Msg: 3615 of 3618
From the abstract of patent #6,011,018 (which, from my, scannning covers the entire ARGENT platform):
‘…the dimerizers (i.e. the molecules driving ARGENT) have the potential to serve as "universal drugs". They can also be
viewed as cell permeable, organic replacements for therapeutic antisense agents or for proteins that would otherwise require
intravenous injection or intracellular expression.'
If you want a billion dollar drug, I would guess a ‘universal drug' certainly wouldn't hurt. Nor would it hurt much if self same
drug replaced antisense therapy or other approaches requiring iv injections.
--------------------------------------------
I've followed Ariad's science for 2+ years and I'm quite familiar with it. The events of the last ~2 weeks have not involved
any new scientific data (although I'm not yet aware of the data presented at Keystone). The most recent publication by the
company, the ‘clustering' paper published 6 weeks in PNAS, was consistent with all the previous work from the company:
absolutely top notch science with a distinctly creative flair. The major changes that have occurred have happened outside the
scientific realm: 1. the company has received $40 million from HMR from the sale of its 50% stake in the genomics facility
and 2. today's news regarding the patents. While my background is in sceince (and that is what brought me to Ariad – it's
the only biotech stock I've ever owned), the recent events put the company on a substantially firmer foundation than even 4
weeks ago. Not only does the company have cash and a much narrower focus (good) with a very strong platform
(ARGENT), the ‘formalizing' of this platform with the patent announcement today virtually assures Ariad (IMO) a steady
and rapidly growing income from the licensing revenue (and their own ARGENT based applications).
Today's response by the market, as reflected especially by the volume, was a belated recognition that ARGENT may indeed
be an incredibly valueable reagent; a reagent whose potential uses really are almost unimaginable and a reagent that many
other companies could apply to numerous CURRENT approaches. With the patent now in effect, Ariad has locked in place
the foundation for a potentially tremendous revenue stream.
I've been making statements to this effect, on this thread, for over two years. A couple of the other oldtimers have as well.
Following the events of the past 2 weeks, it would seem there are now a couple more folks who agree with our assessment
of ARGENT.
Posted as a reply to: Msg 3605 by Pirkkal
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