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Strategies & Market Trends : Cents and Sensibility - Kimberly and Friends' Consortium -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: changedmyname who wrote (75798)	2/16/2000 10:29:00 AM
From: CrayUSA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108040

CHRD--still adding... Cray

To: changedmyname who wrote (75798)	2/16/2000 10:30:00 AM
From: Frederick Langford	Respond to of 108040

CEGE <good chart> Holding some Cell Genesys Nets $168 Million From Sale of 25 Percent of Abgenix Equity Ownersh /FROM PR NEWSWIRE SAN FRANCISCO 415-543-7800/ TO BUSINESS AND MEDICAL EDITORS: Cell Genesys Nets $168 Million From Sale of 25 Percent of Abgenix Equity Ownership Current Cash Position of Approximately $230 Million Will Drive Expansion Of Clinical Product Opportunities FOSTER CITY, Calif., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Cell Genesys, Inc. (Nasdaq: CEGE) announced that the company will receive today net proceeds of approximately $168 million from the sale of 840,000 shares of common stock of Abgenix, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABGX) which was priced at $210 per share. This sale was part of a follow-on offering by Abgenix which had been increased to 3,000,000 shares due to demand which in turn allowed Cell Genesys to increase its participation in the offering on a pro-rata basis. Additionally, the underwriters have an option to purchase up to an additional 450,000 shares of which 126,000 shares would be contributed by Cell Genesys. Excluding the exercise of this over-allotment option, Cell Genesys' cash position will increase to approximately $230 million, and the company will retain ownership of 2,552,034 shares of Abgenix representing approximately 12.5 percent ownership on a primary basis. Cell Genesys expects that the majority of the capital gains relating to this transaction will be sheltered by previous net operating loss carryforwards. "The overwhelming success of the Abgenix stock offering will strengthen our cash position to an exceptional level for a company at our stage of development. At the same time, by retaining 2.5 million shares of Abgenix, we continue to have significant upside potential and believe that Abgenix has a very exciting future," stated Stephen A. Sherwin, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Cell Genesys. "With our new financial resources plus the value of our retained ownership in Abgenix, Cell Genesys can more aggressively execute on our ongoing programs in cancer and hemophilia as well as pursue new product opportunities from within our current portfolio or obtained through acquisition. We intend to do everything we can to maximize the opportunities ahead of us and translate that into increased value for our shareholders." Cell Genesys has a diverse product pipeline with ongoing programs in cancer, hemophilia and other serious diseases. The company's lead clinical program is a treatment vaccine for cancer called GVAX(R) cancer vaccine, which is currently being tested in multicenter Phase II clinical trials for prostate cancer and Phase I/II clinical trials for lung cancer. Preliminary encouraging results, including objective measures of antitumor activity, have been observed in both the prostate cancer and lung cancer GVAX(R) clinical trials leading the company to initiate the multicenter trials which are currently under way. GVAX(R) cancer vaccines for prostate and lung cancers are being developed through a worldwide collaboration with the pharmaceutical division of Japan Tobacco. Cell Genesys currently retains commercial rights to other potential cancer applications of GVAX(R) cancer vaccine. Cell Genesys also has a deep pipeline with respect to gene therapy programs in hemophilia, cancer, cardiovascular disorders and Parkinson's disease. Proof of principle has been demonstrated in preclinical studies for each of these four programs, and Cell Genesys' strong financial position now enables the company to pursue certain of these programs, most notably hemophilia, more aggressively. With respect to hemophilia, Cell Genesys plans to take advantage of two different gene delivery systems, more than 90 patent filings pertaining to these two technologies, enhanced manufacturing capabilities as well as the substantial increase in its financial resources to pursue this program. Cell Genesys possesses the largest patent estate in gene therapy including more than 220 issued or granted patents and over 335 pending patent applications. Cell Genesys is focused on the development and commercialization of gene therapies to treat cancer and other major, life-threatening diseases. The company is conducting two multicenter Phase II human clinical trials for its GVAX(R) cancer vaccine in prostate cancer and plans to initiate a multicenter Phase I/II trial of GVAX(R) vaccine in lung cancer. Preclinical stage programs include gene therapy for hemophilia, cancer, cardiovascular disorders and Parkinson's disease. Cell Genesys' assets outside gene therapy include its minority ownership of Abgenix and the company's licensing program in gene activation technology. For additional information, please visit the company's web site at www.cellgenesys.com. Abgenix, which was formed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cell Genesys in 1996, is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and intends to commercialize antibody therapeutic products for the treatment of a variety of disease conditions, including transplantation-related diseases, inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease and cancer. ... Fred