dog/henry:
attached is nice summary, boy looks like this is a good deal. profibility by 1999. you gotta love it.
gw
Headline: INTERVIEW-Ligand (NASDAQ:LGND) deal boosts company value
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By Andrea Orr
LOS ANGELES, Sept 24 (Reuter) - Ligand Pharmaceuticals is
poised to rapidly shift from a development-stage company to a
profitable drug-maker in the wake of a deal that gives it
exclusive rights to several promising treatments for cancer and
diabetes, chairman David Robinson said.
Ligand on Wednesday reached an agreement with Allergan Inc
(NYSE:AGN) to split up assets of their joint venture, Allergan
Ligand Retinoid Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALRI). Robinson said terms of
that deal were extremely favourable to Ligand, making it the
dominant player in the growing field of retinoid-based drug
research.
"I think the way most analysts have valued us was to give us
about half the value of (the joint venture), assuming a 50-50
profit sharing in the assets," he said.
"Now, I think they will have to reassess their valuations. I
don't believe the current share price is reflective of our
value."
Ligand shares closed Wednesday unchanged at 16-3/8. The deal
with Allergan was announced after the market closed.
Under terms of that deal, Ligand won rights to the drugs
from the joint venture that are closest to commercialisation
These include the Panretin topical treatment for the
AIDS-related skin cancer, Kaposi's Sarcoma; a Panretin oral
treatment for leukemia, and two promising drugs for diabetes.
All the drugs are based on retinoids, vitamin A-derived
substances that selectively regulate cell growth.
Robinson said securing the rights to the diabetes drugs,
known as ALRT 268 and ALRT 324, will enable it to advance
development through a new strategic alliance that will be more
lucrative than alliance it has entered to date.
He said it will announce that deal by the fourth quarter of
this year.
Robinson declined to specify the value of the upcoming
diabetes alliance but he said its total value would be more than
$50 million, and it would involve an upfront payment to Ligand
"substantially greater" than $25 million.
Ligand expects to become a profitable company in 1999 and
believes the split with Ligand will allow it to see more profits
sooner than it had previously forecast.
The first drug expected to come to market is the Panretin
treatment for Kaposi's Sarcoma, for which Ligand expects to seek
FDA approval by early 1998.
Robinson said this will likely followed by a luekemia
application for Panretin. He expects to begin human clinical
trials of its diabetes drug next year.
But he said more promising than these near term drug
projects, were the broad potential of retinoid-based therapies,
which are considered safer than many existing drugs.
"We have really seized a leadership in the retinoid field,"
he said, adding that projects were under way to develop
retinoids to treat lung, breast, prostate and ovarian cancer.
In exchange for rights to these drug candidates, Ligand will
pay Allergan royalties on sales of the drugs it gets approved. . |
