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Strategies & Market Trends : Pluvia's Fist.com - Pluvia's Plays & Portfolio -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Pluvia who wrote (999)	9/15/2000 10:10:44 AM
From: Pluvia	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1766

NPRO article on bloomberg... NaPro Shares Rise on Court Ruling That May Help Taxol Generics By Karen Fessler Boulder, Colorado, Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- NaPro BioTherapeutics Inc. shares rose 21 percent on a court ruling that could help its efforts to market a generic version of Bristol- Myers Squibb Co.'s cancer drug, Taxol, in the U.S. Shares of the biotechnology company rose 1.63 to 9.50 on the Nasdaq Stock Market in trading of 2.1 million, 18 times the three- month daily average. The stock has almost quadrupled in the past 12 months. An appeals court yesterday refused to delay a federal judge's order that forces Bristol-Myers to remove a patent on Taxol from U.S. Food and Drug Administration registry of valid patents. Removal of the patent could clear the way for the FDA to approve generic forms of the drug. ``We've been meeting with a lot of institutional buyers that have expressed a desire for more clarity in terms of our ability to get a generic (drug) approved,'' said Gordon Link, NaPro's chief financial officer. ``The ruling may give them enough clarity. Ivax Corp. is the closest to getting its generic Taxol on the market. The company already received tentative approval from the FDA, pending the resolution of its court battle over the patent. Analysts have estimated that generic competition could shave about $1 billion from the estimated $2 billion in Bristol-Myers' global sales of Taxol next year. Primary Product NaPro's main product is a paclitaxel drug. Paclitaxel is the active ingredient in Taxol. The Boulder, Colorado-based company needs to get its drug to market after reporting about $10.8 million in operating losses last year, largely because of research and development spending on the drug. ``We're a one-trick pony,'' Link said. ``We have three or four other (drugs) that are early in development and nowhere near approval.'' The Taxol generic drug ``is the closest to the market and is in the clinic,'' he said. NaPro is working with Abbott Laboratories on paclitaxel as part of a 20-year development, sales and marketing venture for the drug in the U.S. and Canada. NaPro is also working with F.H. Faulding & Co. to develop its drug for markets in Latin America, Asia and South Africa. Other issues cloud the outlook for the FDA's swift approval of generics. Bristol-Myers submitted a new listing of the patent this week, which could stymie efforts to introduce generic versions of its Taxol. The appeals court ruling ``certainly makes it more probable that generics will get into the market,'' Link said. ``But it's not the last thing that Bristol-Myers is going to try. They are a very fierce competitor.''