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Biotech / Medical : Protein Design Labs (PDLI): Stock strong -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nigel bates who wrote (193)	3/13/2002 11:37:52 PM
From: mopgcw	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 407

Protein Design Up 6% Ahead Of Zenapax Phase II Trial Data DOW JONES NEWSWIRES By Beth M. Mantz Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -- Shares of Protein Design Labs Inc. (PDLI) rose 7% Wednesday on hopes that data from a Phase II psoriasis trial would yield positive results soon. The Fremont, Calif., biotechnology company is expected to release results from its study testing its kidney transplant rejection drug in psoriasis patients during the second half of March, said Robert Kirkman, Protein Design Labs vice president of business development, in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. He wouldn't specify whether the release would occur in the third or fourth week of this month. The clinical trial is examining how effective the drug Zenapax is in maintaining remissions in psoriasis patients. Patients, researchers and the company don't know which study participants received Zenapax and which received a placebo. Protein Design Labs still doesn't know the outcome of the study. Fortis Bank analyst Steven Delco said shares are on track to achieve his price target of $42 if the data show Zenapax is effective in limiting the spread of patients' skin lesions and the company proceeds with late-stage trials. Even if the data don't demonstrate Zenapax's effectiveness in psoriasis, the shares still could reach a target of $37. Others, though, have said investors should wait for Zenapax study results before buying shares. If Zenapax fails in the study, Protein Design Labs shares will fall and create an attractive entry point for investors, said Morgan Stanley analysts Caroline Copithorne and Ian Somaiya in a research note Monday. They had initiated coverage with a neutral. Shares of Protein Design Labs closed Wednesday at $18.12, up $1.12, or 6.6%, on volume of 6.1 million, compared with average daily volume of 3.8 million shares. Over the past couple of months, short traders have benefited from Protein Design Labs' mishaps. In December, investigational antibody Remitogen failed to be effective in preventing the spread of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and experimental leukemia medicine Zamyl didn't affect patients' remission rates significantly. Since Dec. 13, the shares have fallen 41%. "The shares have dropped so low that I think people are starting to realize the value of the company...as it teeters on profitability," Fortis Bank analyst Delco said. He cites future sales of drugs, which should begin in 2004, and royalties, for his belief that the stock is a good value. Protein Design Labs' technology has generated dozens of antibodies to fight diseases, including used in Genentech Inc.'s (DNA) Herceptin and Wyeth's (WYE) leukemia drug Mylotarg, from which the company receives a stream of royalties. More than 40 antibodies that other drug makers are testing in clinical trials stem from Protein Design Labs' antibody technology. If even only a handful of these experimental medicines are approved for sale, the company will enjoy "quite an annuity," Delco said. -By Beth M. Mantz, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5287; beth.mantz@dowjones.com