Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : VD's Model Portfolio & Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: scaram(o)uche who wrote (7739)	3/18/2000 1:23:00 PM
From: Ward Knutson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9719

Richard and all. There are a few more interesting AACR 2000 abstracts re: MGI-114 would you like me to post or Richard do you have them as well? We will also see updated information at the AACR on the MGI-114 Ovarian trial, updated beyond the abstract posted here that is. Early results do look great, and I believe they are working successfully with altering dosing regimens to further enhance the activity/tolerance ratio as more is learned concerning the drug's mechanism of action and metabolism. It appears we are looking at response rates approximately triple that of Doxil which was the most recent drug approved for Taxol-Platinum agent refractory Ovarian cancer. Small patient population as yet. V1, I noticed your post commending Celgene on their marvelous job of getting niche market approval and then leveraging with off-label sales. Very true, and I believe this fits with MGI's initial strategy re: MGI-114. While I believe they will continue down this path seeking initial approval in refractory cancers of Ovarian and Pancreatic cell lines (and perhaps seek and be granted expedited review), I sense their strategy may be shifting some as very strong data rolls in. They may well be in a position whereby the drug looks so promising they will concurrently choose to broaden the development efforts seeking front-line therapy approvals in select indications. Richard has properly admonished me in the past for posting gut feel reads so I must admit my prior sentence is somewhat a gut feel. You guys are the experts and I appreciate your input on the biotech sector, you do a fabulous job in my estimation. Congrats to all on the success of the portfolio, you are weathering the recent storm well. As I am a very focused investor in MGI Pharma I do not have the broad knowledge that you do here. The dialogue here has been a tremendous asset to me and I thank you for that. Question: MGI-114 is apparently showing very broad ranging & significant anti-tumor activity; to me this activity in Prostate, Ovarain, Pancreatic, and NSC Lung (combo therapy with CPT-11) appears unprecedented - am I wrong? There appears to be significant information flowing in regards to, and perhaps in anticipation of, a trial combining MGI-114 with low-dose radiation. The early results of the MGI-114 Prostate study were unveiled last year at ASCO and they looked very promising. Conventional chemo agents have shown little to no efficacy in Prostate studies due to the fact that these cells are not rapid reproducers which are inherently targeted by cytotoxic agents. MGI-114 has shown to selectively induce apoptosis in this cell line. Any thoughts on the radio-sensitizing effects of MGI-114? I must say that I am anxiously awaiting data on the MGI-114 Pancreatic study at ASCO. Thanks again, Ward