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Biotech / Medical : Biotech Valuation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Doc Bones who wrote (424)	10/5/1999 12:20:00 PM
From: tnsaf	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 52153

In a different direction on different sort of biotech company, I thought this news would be of interest to the group... Jason ---------------------------------------- Tuesday October 5 12:11 AM ET Green Group Welcomes Monsanto 'Terminator' Move LONDON (Reuters) - Environmental group Friends of the Earth Monday welcomed U.S. biotechnology group Monsanto Co's (NYSE:MCT - news) decision not to develop a so-called ``terminator' gene which would sterilize seeds used by farmers. In an October 4 letter to the Rockefeller Foundation, obtained by Reuters, Monsanto Chairman Robert Shapiro said the company had decided not to develop the gene after seeking comment from the foundation and other groups. ``This is a good first step,' Charles Secrett, director of Friends of the Earth, told Reuters. ``But Monsanto still needs to understand the depth of public opposition to GM (genetically modified) foods and the need for a halt in the rush to introduce it until the science is completed, the regulations are in place and the necessary public debate has been had.' Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups in Britain strongly oppose Monsanto's testing of genetically modified crops, fearing natural cross-pollination will spread the new genes into conventional cultivation. Leading British retailers have responded to anxiety over genetically modified organisms, dubbed ``Frankenstein foods' by the media, by removing GM products from their shelves. Critics of the biotech crops say there is not enough research to conclude the crops are safe for the environment and for human consumption. The ``terminator' technology, which Monsanto said was still several years away from commercial production, would prevent plants from producing fertile seeds, forcing farmers to buy more seed from the supplier rather than using seed from the previous year's crop. Critics contended use of the gene would hurt farmers in developing countries. St Louis-based Monsanto does not yet have the ``terminator' gene technology, but would gain access to it through its long-planned acquisition of cotton seed breeder Delta and Pine Land Co., which is awaiting regulatory approval.

To: Doc Bones who wrote (424)	10/7/1999 8:58:00 AM
From: Henry Niman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 52153

Your link is a bit out of date. Benefits for high dose chemotherapy and BMT were shown at ASCO this year as well as a recent Duke study: messages.yahoo.com messages.yahoo.com messages.yahoo.com

To: Doc Bones who wrote (424)	10/9/1999 2:32:00 AM
From: RWReeves	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 52153

Well, yes, that is an old link. Nevertheless, take a look at the NCI clinical trial search tool cancernet.nci.nih.gov which turns up 9 protocols in high dose chemo as the search criteria, and an additional 36 using stem cell transplantation of 204 total trials for breast cancer. Looking at total trials using "stem cells" as the "drug" yields 241, the bulk of them being in leukemia and lymphoma since it pulls up the same 36 in BC. That's nearly 200 more or 4:1 in other areas beside HDC. This ratio has been expanding year by year. You should also not overlook Stem Cell (May, San Diego) sponsored by UCSD as a key cell transplant meeting that explores more "cutting edge" therapies and trends. ASH and ASCO are fairly broad and tend to reflect a more conservative POV than Stem Cell. Stem Cell in the last three years has seen debate go from (in my opinion, at least) "are BC tumor cells going back into the patient to cause relapse and can this be prevented?" to "it doesn't matter, there are too many residual BC cells still in the patient and you need a good scavenger to get them" if I may take license here to paraphrase. So HDC with a "clean" stem cell transplant is of declining interest. Fewer and fewer groups in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan are actively pursuing HDC as a primary treatment modality, the one exception being Spain, where HDC is still more highly utilized on relative terms. Disclaimer: I work in this field and this reflects my bias and opinion, but the data and links are in and of themselves, objective. RWR