Tex:
I am replying to your Ligand post here, as it is this is the proper venu.
I saw that you started this, and was just reviewing thier website and their prospects.
The photodyanamic thereapy thing is interesting, and may indeed be a good way to approach Barretts. It is also used in the lungs to zap superficial and early cancers that are found in the airway. However, there is a reason that alot of the data comes from Mayo, and that is that when you give the stuff, one must stay out of sunlight for several days, or you could suffer significant sunburn. At least in the pulmonary community, it has a limited role. There certainly are more gastroenterologists who do this, but I am not sure how big it will ultimately be.
I noticed that they do have several interesting things on the market, including ursodiol. That is getting more indications, however, they are going up against Novarits, who has the indication for dissolving gall stones. I am not sure how they are pricing that. I do know that most gastroenterologists know Actigal, not URSO. Their marketing plan would be interesting.
The most interesting thing is their H. Pylori drug. A once daily drug would be very attractive. It is interesting that it is a tetracycline based drug,as I thought that that was no longer manufactured in preference to doxicycline. I have no idea what that means. I will have to investigate the availible litereature about their approach and see what else is in the pipeline. But the primary care docs in the country, rightly or wrongly have been approaching abdomenal pain by testing for and treating emperically h.pylori. A once a day, well tolerated therapy would be a great success.
Thanks for the heads up, I will look into this further,
Dan |
