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

To: Bob L who wrote (5203)	12/21/2001 12:34:20 PM
From: Vector1	Respond to of 52153

Bob, you raise a good point. I think we are looking at a moving target as the standard of practice is a moving target. The new guidlines for total cholesterol requiring drug intervention has moved to lower levels. There is also growing evidence of the role of HDL in inhibiting arterial plaque. I know this is not a full answer and will try and see if I can pull together some data. V1

To: Bob L who wrote (5203)	12/21/2001 12:51:56 PM
From: Biomaven	Respond to of 52153

Bob, Here's a quote from KOSP's 10K (I can't vouch for its accuracy): Of the 14 million Americans who are estimated by the AHA to have CHD, about 40% have low levels of HDL cholesterol as their primary lipid abnormality. About 60% of patients with CHD have two or more lipid disorders. The Company believes that patients with low HDL or multiple lipid disorders would benefit from Niaspan therapy. Many such patients are candidates for combination therapy using principally an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, or "statin," to reduce LDL combined with Niaspan to raise HDL, lower triglycerides, and enhance the statin's LDL efficacy. This quote was before the NIH guidelines that Vector1 referred to, which raised the desired HDL level to 40mg from 35mg. Here also is a relevant quote from the guideline's press release: The new guidelines are expected to substantially expand the number of Americans being treated for high cholesterol, including raising the number on dietary treatment from about 52 million to about 65 million and increasing the number prescribed a cholesterol-lowering drug from about 13 million to about 36 million. Peter