(Posted on Yahoo) According to Bloomberg reports out this week:
Coulter Pharmaceuticals (CLTR) -
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and IDEC Pharmaceuticals (IDPH) -
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are both on the acquisition warpath and, according to the articles, they are looking specifically for cancer drugs and monoclonal antibody-type drugs to compliment their current portfolios.
Could LKST (Leukosite) and/or ILXO (ILEX Oncology) become possible takeover targets / partners?
Campath-1H (a 50-50 joint venture between ILXO and LKST) fits this bill perfectly not to mention the drugs that are still in the pipeline. LKST has many experts in the realm of monoclonal antibodies.
For example, Coulter's scientists are working to develop drugs that seek to target tumors sparing healthy tissue in the body. The farthest along of those drugs is dubbed super-leu dox, a formulation of a popular toxic chemotherapy agent that's designed to be activated when it comes in contact with tumor cells. This drug sounds remarkably similar to THP-dox, a tumor homing peptide laced with doxorubicin that is presently being developed by ILXO and the Burnham Institute.
Historically, cancer therapies have attacked the tumor. However, like an army without intelligence data, chemotherapy attacks both healthy and cancerous tissue, causing severe side effects with limited efficacy. More recently, therapies such as monoclonal antibodies and angiogenesis inhibitors have been found to act like "smart bombs," targeting either a specific tumor or the tumor's supply line -- its blood vessels.
The new compound (called THP-dox), discovered and developed by Drs. Ruoslahti and Renata Pasqualini, Assistant Professor, of the Burnham Institute, with grant support from the National Cancer Institute, links a "Tumor Homing Peptide" (THP) to one of the most widely used chemotherapy drugs, doxorubicin. THP-dox seeks out and binds only to blood vessels that nourish solid tumors, simultaneously destroying these critical blood vessels and passively releasing doxorubicin into the tumor tissue -- delivering a powerful "one-two punch."
Reference: ilexoncology.com
All in all, the next few months should prove to be VERY interesting as these two companies muscle their way across the countryside looking for potential buyout candidates. |
