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Biotech / Medical : Biotech Valuation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Torben Noerup Nielsen who wrote (2828)	2/6/2001 5:04:46 PM
From: Biomaven	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 52153

So GZTC dumps its lead product, rhATIII. Won't exactly inspire confidence among its customers - now one of them gets to be the first transgenic product at the FDA. I also think both GZTC and GENZ have been less than upfront about this program, just as they were "overly quiet" about the cleaved version out of Folkman's lab. Fortunately for me I dumped mine a while back (as believe I posted at the time). (As a friend pointed out, you have to love this headline <g>). Genzyme Transgenics Announces Expectations for rhATIII FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Genzyme Transgenics Corporation ("GTC") (Nasdaq: GZTC) announced today that it does not expect to complete the transaction to re-acquire the rights to recombinant human antithrombin III (rhATIII). In a letter of intent announced last November, GTC indicated its expectation to acquire all the rights for rhATIII. Control of the development of rhATIII will remain with the ATIII LLC joint venture. The ATIII LLC no longer expects to actively pursue additional development of rhATIII for heparin resistance in patients about to undergo cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. The ATIII LLC recently met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss the status of the clinical development program for the rhATIII molecule in the treatment of heparin resistance in patients about to undergo cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. While no outstanding concerns have been raised about GTC's technology or its application, the level of expense and time involved in developing the additional data required by the FDA is not justified by the potential market size of the heparin resistance indication. "A major value of rhATIII to GTC has been its use as a lead product in demonstrating our technology to others, including the FDA," stated Sandra Nusinoff Lehrman, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of GTC. "We believe that the rhATIII program has substantially met this objective. We will keep our resources focused on the continued development of monoclonal antibodies and immunoglobulin fusion proteins, with partners such as Centocor, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Progenics. These programs represent rich market opportunities. We will also continue developing other therapeutic proteins that we believe are innovative in addressing unmet medical needs and have a reasonable probability of economic success." Genzyme Transgenics Corporation expects to discuss this news with financial analysts in a web cast conference call at 2:30 p.m. today. The call may be heard through the Company's web site, transgenics.com. GTC is a leader in developing medicines from the milk of specially bred animals, primarily goats. Many of the medicines under development are monoclonal antibodies and immunoglobulin fusion proteins or other therapeutic proteins. To date, GTC has formed collaborations on ten monoclonal antibodies and immunoglobulin fusion proteins with eight partners. The ATIII LLC joint venture was established by Genzyme Transgenics and Genzyme General for the development, marketing, and distribution of rhATIII in the United States and Europe. This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including without limitation statements about the prospects for developing ATIII and the opportunities inherent in Genzyme Transgenics Corporation's other development programs. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such statements. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed in Genzyme Transgenics Corporation's prospectuses and 1999 Annual Reports on Form 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the uncertainties and risks associated with the likelihood of receipt of regulatory acceptance, the risks and uncertainties associated with completing partnering or acquisition transactions, and the risks and uncertainties associated with dependence upon the actions of government and regulatory agencies. /CONTACT: Thomas E. Newberry, Director, Investor Relations of Genzyme Transgenics Corporation, 508-270-2374; Investors - Raj Punwaney, M.D., M.B.A., or Media - Kathy Jones, Ph.D., both of Burns McClellan, Inc., 212-213-0006, for Genzyme Transgenics Corporation/ Peter