Starting to dig into AGEN. Very little interest on SI. You've mentioned it (wrt to Florida investor Brad Kelly's new stake, the wisdom of which you seemed skeptical of), but it doesn't look like you follow it. Robert C. Jonson listed it in his '03 contest picks. They had $70 million in cash as of last quarter, which translates to roughly $2/share. Upon looking at IP situation, it would appear it is sufficiently differentiated from Stressgen's that neither company should be at much risk from related litigation. Humungous short ratio. A bet against the gp120 vaccine for HIV? Or against Oncophage? Or both? It's in PIII, as is Oncophage vaccine; so news of those trials are probably the next drivers.
>>J Clin Oncol 2002 Oct 15;20(20):4169-80
Erratum in:
J Clin Oncol 2002 Dec 1;20(23):4610
Comment in:
J Clin Oncol. 2002 Oct 15;20(20):4139-40.
Vaccination of metastatic melanoma patients with autologous tumor-derived heat shock protein gp96-peptide complexes: clinical and immunologic findings.
Belli F, Testori A, Rivoltini L, Maio M, Andreola G, Sertoli MR, Gallino G, Piris A, Cattelan A, Lazzari I, Carrabba M, Scita G, Santantonio C, Pilla L, Tragni G, Lombardo C, Arienti F, Marchiano A, Queirolo P, Bertolini F, Cova A, Lamaj E, Ascani L, Camerini R, Corsi M, Cascinelli N, Lewis JJ, Srivastava P, Parmiani G.
Unit of General Surgery 2, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy.
PURPOSE: To determine the immunogenicity and antitumor activity of a vaccine consisting of autologous, tumor-derived heat shock protein gp96-peptide complexes (HSPPC-96, Oncophage; Antigenics, Inc, Woburn, MA) in metastatic (American Joint Committee on Cancer stage IV) melanoma patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty-four patients had surgical resection of metastatic tissue required for vaccine production, 42 patients were able to receive the vaccine, and 39 were assessable after one cycle of vaccination (four weekly injections). In 21 patients, a second cycle (four biweekly injections) was given because no progression occurred. Antigen-specific antimelanoma T-cell response was assessed by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained before and after vaccination. Immunohistochemical analyses of tumor tissues were also performed. RESULTS: No treatment-related toxicity was observed. Of 28 patients with measurable disease, two had a complete response (CR) and three had stable disease (SD) at the end of follow-up. Duration of CR was 559+ and 703+ days, whereas SD lasted for 153, 191, and 272 days, respectively. ELISPOT assay with PBMCs of 23 subjects showed a significantly increased number of postvaccination melanoma-specific T-cell spots in 11 patients, with clinical responders displaying a high frequency of increased T-cell activity. Immunohistochemical staining of melanoma tissues from which vaccine was produced revealed high expression of both HLA class I and melanoma antigens in seven of eight clinical responders (two with CR, three with SD, and the three with long-term disease-free survival) and in four of 12 nonresponders. CONCLUSION: Vaccination of metastatic melanoma patients with autologous HSPPC-96 is feasible and devoid of significant toxicity. This vaccine induced clinical and tumor-specific T-cell responses in a significant minority of patients.<<
antigenics.com
I see that most of their oncology portfolio is unpartnered, whereas most of their infectious disease program is. That is, their adjuvant, QS-21, and gp120 are partnered, Oncophage is not. So the burn would chiefly be from Oncophage trials.
Feline leukemia product on market, but partnered; probably not a big revenue stream.
Next, dig through filings, look at gp120 odds.
Cheers, Tuck |
