Ligand (LGND) Breakout! Message Board

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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout!

LGND 205.61

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11:04 AM EST

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To: Andrew H who wrote (12029)	12/3/1997 9:22:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Read Replies (1) of 32384

Andy, The paper indicates that leptin binds to its recetor in the brain which then activates this ATP channel. They suggest that drugs could target this channel, but I don't think that the channel is specific to the brain, so I'm not sure how the proposed drug would acheive specificity. The article does reinforce the concept that the "full feeling" is activated when leptin binds to its receptor in the brain. This could be acheived in two ways (LGND's two programs). One would increase leptin levels in the blood which would then lead to increases in the brain. The other approach would just send out a drug to mimic the signal. Since obese people already have elevated leptin levels in their blood, it seems likely that an even larger amount is needed to be effective. AMGN found some positive results from injecting leptin, but only saw significant effects at the highest dose which caused irritation. Thye are trying to reformulate the drug to allow higher levels to be acheived. LGND's program with LLY seeks to do this with small oral molecules that will bind to proteins affecting the leptin promotor which will then make the cells make more leptin. The small molecules could cause leptin levels to rise sufficiently high in the blood to ultimately increase the concentration in the brain. However, in many cases, obesity mat be due to a faulty transport system. Since the leptin molecule is large, it must be actively transported across the blood/brain barrier. There is some evdidence for such a defect in obese humans (their leptin levels are lower than expected in spinal fluid which also involves transport). LGND's second leptin program (the one delayed for almost a year now) would use small molecules that would represent the leptin/receptor binding signal. Thus, when they passively cross the blood/brain barrier (without having to be transported by the defective transport system), they would generate this same signal in the brain that activates the ATP channel. However, they would use the leptin/receptor specificity.

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