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

To: Mike McFarland who wrote (144)	2/13/2001 3:47:55 PM
From: keokalani'nui	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 200

Sorry Mike. Here's more. Emphasis mine. At this rate, the last of the proteins will enter the clinic in 2101. ________________ Genset reorienting genomics unit towards drugs (UPDATE: Recasts with chairman comment, shares) PARIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - French biotechnology firm Genset (NasdaqNM:GENXY - news) said on Tuesday it was reorienting its genomics business towards drug research following the publication this week of the map of the human genome. ``With the genome decoded, the shift from pure genomics towards medical genomics is accelerating,'' the company said in a statement. ``Taking part in this new phase, Genset is orienting its business towards discovering and developing pharmaceutical products.'' Genset said the reorganization would see 82 existing jobs cut at its Genomics Research Center outside Paris, while an increase in pharmaceutical genomics activities should result in the creation of 28 new jobs. The transition will also mean the sale of the Genset Oligos division, a leader in the production of synthetic DNA. Genset said it was actively pursuing the sale of the unit, which it no longer considered a core business. Existing research projects with French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi-Synthelabo and Abbott Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:ABT - news) of the U.S. will also be interrupted or curtailed, the company said. ``As we indicated last August, our objective is not to offer services for the discovery of genes associated with various diseases, but to identify drug candidates,'' said Andre Pernet, the company's chief executive and president. ``This is the direction we want to commit ourselves to 100 percent.'' FAMOXIN TRIALS SEEN IN FOURTH QUARTER In an interview with Reuters later on Tuesday, Pernet said the restructuring would take place in the coming months so that new projects could start at mid-year, and the sale of Oligos could take place within six months. Genset aims to develop drugs related to the central nervous system and metabolic illnesses, abandoning its sequencing activities. The announcement follows Monday's publication by the journals Science and Nature of the map of the human genetic code, or human genome. ``We are restructuring because we are certain we can add more value to Genset by developing products than by selling targets. The latter bring in very little money, while medicines bring in tens of millions of dollars,'' Pernet said. Genset's stock shot higher last week after the company announced that pre-clinical tests on laboratory mice of its anti-obesity drug Famoxin had demonstrated the medication's effectiveness. Pernet said the drug should be tested on human beings in the fourth quarter of 2001, with a market launch envisaged in 2005 or 2006. The company aims to identify two drug candidates a year, thanks to its bank of 2,000 proteins. That promise will be kept this year thanks to Famoxin and a compound for use against diabetes, currently being tested on animals. Genset posted a 1999 loss of 22.26 million euros and does not expect to be profitable before a large-scale partnership agreement to develop Famoxin is signed. It will release 2000 results on February 21. Genset closed up 0.47 percent at 49.23 euros on Tuesday, above its January 10 year-low of 33.10 euros but still way off its 249 euro high reached on March 6 last year.