I think that the market will respond, because LGND has greased the skids for sales and they should come close to anticipated revenue for 1999, which is required to meet profitability requirements for this year. I agree that most expected approved ("problems with the drug nonsense on this thread not withstanding), but its still a major milestone, especially since LGND reported the DISCOVERY of the hormone (9-cis retinoic acid)just 7 years ago (se below).
Bringing a drug from discovery to the pharmacy shelf in 7 years is quite a accomplishment and LGND employees should be quite proud of such a feat.
Cell 1992 Jan 24;68(2):397-406
9-cis retinoic acid is a high affinity ligand for the retinoid X receptor.
Heyman RA, Mangelsdorf DJ, Dyck JA, Stein RB, Eichele G, Evans RM, Thaller C
Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc., San Diego, California 92121.
All-trans retinoic acid (RA) has previously been shown to modulate the transcriptional properties of the retinoic acid receptor
(RAR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR). The inability of all-trans RA to bind to RXR suggests that it may be metabolized to a
more active high affinity ligand. We report here an experimental approach that has identified 9-cis RA as an RXR ligand. It is
up to 40-fold more potent than all-trans RA in transfection assays and binds with high affinity. The production of 9-cis RA in
cultured cells and the identification of this molecule in liver and kidney demonstrates the existence of this molecule in living
organisms. The discovery of this novel hormone points to the key role retinoid metabolism may have in generating new signaling
pathways.
PMID: 1310260, UI: 92127596 |
