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Biotech / Medical : VICL (Vical Labs) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bob zagorin who wrote (1257)	4/18/2000 1:05:00 PM
From: Greg Jung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1972

Well you snooze you lose bob I think it was just untimely announcement and with scare articles saying how biotech could go into another 3-year slumber ... I think it got a premature funeral. VICL is just the kind of 1 1/2 tier stock that can make a lot of good trades. I sold my PEB at loss yesterday before it went +13 oh well but its got a measurable prospect and hasn't fallen as much is what I reasoned. Anyway toraise cash to protect these biotechs I've also stepped into hgsi at 59. Fundamentally we need a stock price boom to fund equipment that PEB sells so as I write this I'm not unhappy about bailing even though the timing stinks. We'll have to see if vicl can regain ground above the 200dma it seemed content at 30 but everything is pointing down I'm thinking, take profits when they present themselves. I would consider shorting in this market but margin rules work against shorts much more than longs. The buy-sell sequence is the same but the first and last transaction. Long: B .. S .. B .. S .. B .. S Short: S .. B .. S .. B .. S .. B .. S .. B To go short you need options, really.

To: bob zagorin who wrote (1257)	4/18/2000 6:40:00 PM
From: Jim Oravetz	Respond to of 1972

FWIW: This was in this mornings Briefing.com Vical Inc. (VICL) 14 1/4 -4 7/8: There is probably never a good time to announce the resignation of a company's CEO. It certainly does not help to make such an announcement when the stock is already back-peddling, having lost the backing of momentum players and 80% of its market value in less than two months. This major price markdown comes even though earlier this month, this biotechnology company released positive results from a preclinical study of a novel prostate cancer vaccine using the company's patented naked DNA gene delivery technology. In essence, the stock has returned to the price level that prevailed late last year prior to the blind investing that occurred in the biotech sector by investors that had little knowledge of what the company did or what type of drugs it had in development. If it was involved in the biotech sector, that was good enough for momentum players to run up the stock. Well, in a few months, the investing environment has changed and investors are again asking questions whether the company has viable products that might provide it with a revenue and earnings stream. While Vical has conducted studies to demonstrate the naked DNA delivery of proteins that modify immune responses on implanted prostate cancer tumors and is currently conducting Phase II clinical trials in patients with prostate cancer using Leuvectin, a gene-based immunotherapy that delivers IL-2 locally, the company is far from claiming victory or receiving FDA approval, though the data are encouraging. Even so, it must be disappointing that despite the strides Vical has made with its naked DNA gene delivery technology, and after eight years at Vical, Alain B. Schreiber, the president and CEO is leaving the company at the end of June. Maybe the departure had to do with the inability to manage expectations given the rapid rise in the stock (and vise versa). But in today's fast changing environment where momentum players can have great influence on the price, managing expectations, especially on the down side, can be as important as properly managing clinical studies. - RN Nice bounce back up today - lots of biotechs also up. Looks like INTC reported good results. Should help the NASDAQ tomorrow. Jim