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Biotech / Medical : Biotech for less than a buck. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RWReeves who wrote (410)	2/27/2000 1:40:00 AM
From: Cheryl Galt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 743

Surprise! Little AutoImmune (AIMM) was "featured" in a Washington Post biotech story on Friday. (For the record, Friday AIMM closed at 3 5/16, up 1/16) Putting 'Buy' In Biotech Investors Flock To A Sector Shunned In The '90s washingtonpost.com By Justin Gillis Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, February 25, 2000; Page E01 The section mentioning AIMM: Some of the recent buying certainly appears indiscriminate. Take the case of AutoImmune Inc., a Lexington, Mass., company that virtually ceased operations last year after its main product failed in human tests. AutoImmune fired its employees and is down to two part-timers. It has no laboratory, no headquarters except an answering machine in its chief executive's house, and an accumulated loss exceeding $110 million. It does have some assets--$7 million in cash, equipment in storage, patents that may be worth something some day--but it is, at best, an exceedingly risky stock. It has one other relevant asset, though: a stock-market listing under a name that sounds vaguely biotech-y. AutoImmune's share price collapsed with the drug disaster, and for many weeks the stock traded below $1. But based on not the slightest scrap of new information, AutoImmune has soared in recent weeks, trading as high as $4.62 1/2 on Feb. 18. It closed yesterday at $3.25, a 270 percent increase since the collapse. Some investor interest appears to be based on anonymous postings to Internet bulletin boards hinting vaguely at possible deals or possible future profits. "I think frankly there is a general heightened interest in the biotechnology area," said Robert C. Bishop, the company's part-time chief executive and keeper of its answering machine. "We are certainly feeling some wind in our sails as a result of that." He has no other explanation for the stock movement and said no buyout deals are in the offing. ... ... Defying Gravity Investor enthusiasm for many biotechnology stocks is beginning to resemble that given to dot-coms, raising concerns that what started as a sensible move into an undervalued sector is turning into a bubble. An example is AutoImmune, whose shares collapsed on Sept. 1 after it said its main product had failed in human tests. The news since then, as reflected in this Nov. 5 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, has been grim. But investors have run the stock up 270 percent since the collapse. $5--AutoImmune Inc. Daily closing stock price "Since its inception through September 30, 1999, the company has incurred ongoing losses from operations and has cumulative losses as of September 30, 1999, totaling $110,095,000. To date the company has not recorded any revenues from the sale of products." "In September 1999, the company announced disappointing results from the Phase III trial of Colloral (R) and a restructuring plan to conserve resources while evaluating its strategic options." "The restructuring plan includes the minimization of future obligations, disposition of all research capital equipment and significant reduction in staffing levels. As of September 30, 1999, all but 4 of the 26 positions were eliminated. . . . Two additional full-time positions were eliminated during October 1999." Yesterday (Thu Feb 24) : $3.25, down $43 cents ----------------------------- BTW, I bumped into this Post article by following a link in the current BioSpace Breaking News column -- that listed many of the bios getting great cash infusions. biospace.com