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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Henry Niman who wrote (29038)	7/7/1999 9:36:00 AM
From: Arthur Radley	Respond to of 32384

I agree the ELN part is old news but I question the LGND reference in the article because of the fact that ELN had licensed the Morphelan drug to another company(1997) for $7.5 million and this license agreement expired. Now LGND steps up to the plate with an agreement for the drug for $15 million(stock and notes). Have to wonder if LGND is being taken to the cleaners on the deal and now Elan has received a total of $22 million for the drug that MIGHT be approved.

To: Henry Niman who wrote (29038)	7/7/1999 6:22:00 PM
From: Arthur Radley	Respond to of 32384

Message 10416915

To: Henry Niman who wrote (29038)	7/7/1999 8:51:00 PM
From: TomOrt	Respond to of 32384

Henry: Have you seen this article? How does this effrct LGND? dailynews.yahoo.com Wednesday July 7 3:58 PM ET Vitamin A Derivative Kills Cancer Cells-US Study WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A chemical derived from vitamin A can kill cancer cells, even those that are resistant to other drugs, U.S. researchers said Wednesday. It is one of several such vitamin A derivatives, known as retinoids, which have been found to act against cancer cells. But in a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Barry Maurer of Children's Hospital in Los Angeles and colleagues said they had figured out the mechanism, and said the chemical, known as fenretinide or 4-HPR, might be added to the mix of drugs given to some cancer patients. Fenretinide has already been shown to kill cancer cells, notably cervical cancer and myeloid leukemia. Maurer's team tested it in cells taken from children with neuroblastoma, a kind of cancer of the nervous system. They found the fenretinide killed cancer cells and raised levels of a fat-like molecule called ceramide. The more fenretinide they used, the higher the levels of ceramide and the more tumor cells died. Ceramide is known to kill tumor cells, but scientists have been unable, until now, the find a drug that raises ceramide levels enough in the cells to kill them. The researchers said fenretinide might be used along with other retinoids in treating neuroblastoma to maximize the number of cancer cells killed. ''Therefore, should it be clinically tolerated, high-dose 4-HPR may form the basis for a new, ceramide-based chemotherapy,'' they wrote. Dr. John Reed of the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, California said fenretinide is already being tested in humans. In a commentary on the findings, he said knowing how fenretinide works may help scientists develop even more effective drugs based on its action.