Don't know how he came up with the 139% stake number for Fidelity......but I do like the scenario he lays out in the article........
Small Biotech Micromet (MITI) Getting Attention from Big Pharma....And Investors
2:34 pm ET 12/27/2010 - StreetInsider
Micromet (Nasdaq: MITI) shares are trading higher today following a positive article on Daily Finance.
Writer Gene Marcial said that the shares are finally getting some attention after the small biotech signed seven of its larger brethren who have signed partnership pacts with the company.
He notes that the company's number one appeal is that it's "developing novel antibody-based drugs to treat cancer, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases." The new class of drugs, named BiTE are antibodies that mobilize T-Cells, which allows them to seek out and destroy normally unrecognizable cancer cells.
Their chief product, blinatumomab, will be going under trials in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a rare and deadly blood cancer. Blinatumomab showed promising results in a Phase 2 earlier this year, with indicated that 80% of acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients had no detectable tumor cells left after treatment with the drug.
The company has formed collaborations with several big pharma companies over the last 18 months. to develop BiTE antibodies. Companies include sanofi-aventis (NYSE: SNY), Bayer Schering, and Boehringer Ingelheim.
One spokesperson for the company noted that many major pharmas are going to lose patents on some of their blockbuster products by 2014, and are looking to replace what might amount to huge losses on sales. The replacement drugs might come from internal R&D or through M&A.
Larger investment houses are taking big stakes in the company. Fidelity Management owns 139%, Columbia Wagner Asset management has 5.3%, and BlackRock Institutional Trust owns 4.7%.
Several pairings with big pharma and investments by large institutions should make even the most skeptical of investors looking for a smaller biotech to get off of the fence. |
