Thanks for the support. Today was a better day than most. H&Q likes the data also:
Ligand rises on positive data
Thursday, February 12, 1998 12:59 PM
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LOS ANGELES, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc rose in active volume
Thursday after the release earlier in the week of positive data on two of the company's leading drug
candidates, analysts said. They said they are particularly encouraged by a study showing Ligand's
Targretin drug for cancer was more effective than the leading breast cancer drug on the market, in
tests on rats. Shares of Ligand were up 1-1/4 to 14-5/8.
Ligand has Targretin in advanced clinical trials for cutaneous t-cell lymphoma, a rare form of cancer,
and is also testing it in lung, ovarian, and head and neck cancer. Van den Broek said the lymphoma
indication for which Targretin was most likely to win initial Food and Drug Administration approval was
a rare form of cancer, but positive data in other more common types of cancers might lead to more
off-label uses. But some analysts questioned the usefulness of rat data.
LOS ANGELES, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc rose in active volume
Thursday after the release earlier in the week of positive data on two of the company's leading drug
candidates, analysts said. They said they are particularly encouraged by a study showing Ligand's
Targretin drug for cancer was more effective than the leading breast cancer drug on the market, in
tests on rats. Shares of Ligand were up 1-1/4 to 14-5/8 in exchange trading.
"Even though it was only animal data, people gave greater significance to the news because
Targretin is already in advanced clinical trials in humans," said Hambrecht & Quist analyst Richard
van den Broek. "If you have a drug like Targretin that is extremely safe and shows some signs of
efficacy, it is not a leap to assume oncologists will start weaving it into their experimental protocols," he
said. |
