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

To: notyet who wrote (29965)	1/8/2000 3:25:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

Word is starting to get out (it's almost a Ligand infomercial :-)): Dermatol Clin 2000 Jan;18(1):147-56 Emerging new therapies for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Duvic M, Cather JC Department of Dermatology, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA. mduvic@mdanderson.org [Medline record in process] Improved therapy for CTCL will depend on a better understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease at a molecular level. It is clear that the T cells in MF and CTCL do not undergo normal programmed cell death and have prolonged lifespans. Skin flora or other antigens may stimulate the initial proliferation, offering another approach to change the course of the disease. There has been tremendous interest in biological response modifiers, and the first targeted fusion toxin to activated T cells has been approved for CTCL. New retinoids with increased selectivity and decreased side effects are being tested for this disease. In summary, the treatment of CTCL should continue to improve and should be focused on strategies that preserve the immune function in these patients. PMID: 10626120, UI: 20091565

To: notyet who wrote (29965)	1/8/2000 11:48:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

Maybe we should start with Stephen D. Loren at Legg Mason. His background is more on the Chemistry side: "Dr. Loren comes to equity research after a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Legg Mason, he was a research scientist in the Advanced Technologies Division of Abbott Laboratories in Chicago. While at Abbott he dealt with the identification and integration of key technologies in the drug discovery effort, as well as the production of chemical compounds for new lead discovery. He also served as a technology consultant for start-up firms entering the field of combinatorial chemistry. In his scientific career, Dr. Loren received numerous awards and is the author of over 20 scholarly publications/presentations. His work has been featured in Scientific American, Time, Newsweek, and Discover, as well as other periodicals and journals. Dr. Loren received a doctorate in Organic Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and subsequently spent two years as a post-doctoral researcher at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, where he worked on processes for the production of chiral drugs." As an aside, on the institution side, Scripps (Stephen Loren) and Salk (Ron Evans), have a fairly intense rivalry. Loren downgraded LGND to a hold when it was 6 something and then lowered estimates again based on the FDA advisory comittee vote on Targretin. He cited side effects, which are benign as systemic therapies for cancers go. Maybe we should send him the comments of the patients and MDs. My read of the advisory comments indicates that they may have wanted a more controlled study and had some concerns about long term side effects, particularly in patients with early or indolent disease, but they recognized the benefits seen in some patients and felt that the side effects were relative mild. I'm sure that the oncologists on the committee also knew that the side effects for many cancers, like Tamoxifen resistant advanced breast cancer, is death. He seemed to think that some patients would chose a fatal disease to a headache.

To: notyet who wrote (29965)	1/9/2000 3:22:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

Speaking of getting the word out, maybe we should start with sobrien@marketwatch.com Message 12314536 She seemed to think that the FDA was not going to approve Targretin for early CTCL patients and chose to extensively cite Stephen Loren, our friend at Legg Mason, who downgraded LGND to a HOLD when they were selling just above $6 and then reduced earnings estimates based on the FDA discussions on Targretin. Maybe we should send Stephanie some of the testimonials and explain that the FDA concerns over long term use for early CTCL who had a somewhat manageable disease might not coincide with patients who had advanced breast cancer and might be considering off label use of oral Targretin.