summary of sgmo investor presentation from IV board..
"...I agree, I thought it was a very solid presentation, and I really appreciated the slides as well--so much so I added again today.
As you mentioned, the fact that Sangamo 'dominates' the IP in this area supports the long term advantages for use for both 'therapeutic benefits' and 'commercial benefits'.
Zinc Finger Proteins are the predominant transcription factors in the body that bind to the promotors on the dna before the targeted proteins are ever manufactured . He took pains to distinguish their uses on DNA as opposed to rnai (repression or 'silencing' only) in that they can be used in activation--repression--modification, either by correction, disruption or addition. Can be directed by a selective 'guidance system' to 'any gene in any cell'.
The pipeline has numerous potential targets for therapeutic uses, yet he chose to detail only four:
Diabetic neuropathy, phase 2 results in second half '08. Effects up to 50% of diabetics, so huge market to address, through the vegf system. Uses plasmid encoding zfp's to selectively activate the vegf in normal proportions, which is designed to increase directly the neuronal, glial cells as well as to generate normal blood vessels. Excellent ph 1 results thusfar for this huge unmet need;
Blocked nerves, phase 2 results in second half '08. Amazing early results, in which even severely damaged nerves were restored to normal nerve conduction velocity. Even more amazing are the early animal studies for spinal cord injuries--statistically significant neuroprotective and regenerative properties demonstrated;
HIV, to enter from preclinical to Ph 1 by end of '07; Pfizer recently had approval for its small molecule ccr-5 drug; however, severe black box because of potential liver toxicity due to the huge prevalence of the receptors in the body. SGMO will potentially work around that problem since its deactivation of the ccr-5 receptors could potentially be permanent. NIH board gave unanimous approval for this candidate to go forward, and Ph 1 will be conducted in conjunction with the U of Penn team;
Glioblastoma multiform, to enter from preclinical to Ph 1 by end of '07; designed to disrupt glucocortical receptor gene and generate allogenic glioma-specific killer T cells that are glucocorticoid resistant; Ph 1 will be conducted by City of Hope, once of the worlds leading institutions for cutting edge cancer therapies.
In addition to the therapeutic benefits of the candidates above, SGMO will continue to monetize the ZFP platform for commerical use. In addition to the recent SIAL collaboration for reagents, he likewise was highly complimentary (as was DOW) of the plant targets in its collaboration with DowAGRo. In addition to the direct benefit of these collaborations (ie. milestone/equity interests), he made it clear that SGMO will likewise obtain low double digit royalties from the SUB-LICENSES generated through their studies...both Sial and dow are leaders in their respective fields.
Lastly, he likewise mentioned that the recent collaboration with Genentech is a NON- exclusive license for the use in protein produciton. In no way would sgmo be restricted from licensing to other companies at need in this area (the slide just happened to list Pfizer and Amgen, hmmmm...)
After the recent share placement, SGMO prospectively will end the year with approxly 75 mil in cash...." |
