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

To: Miljenko Zuanic who wrote (6060)	4/2/2002 10:15:35 AM
From: mistermj	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 52153

Miljenko:ENMD and angiogenesis inhibition. Thanks for your reply. The following posts with references were written by a well respected poster from the Yahoo ,RB, ENMD board.I hope it answers some of your questions. messages.yahoo.com Yahoo/ENMD Frequently-Asked Questions 2 by: c_peptide1 (M/Virgo Supercluster) Long-Term Sentiment: Strong Buy 04/02/02 07:14 am Msg: 31462 of 31463 Q: "I heard about an article in Science magazine about 'Setbacks for Endostatin.' Is this a cause for concern? A: If you are a mouse getting Endostatin gene therapy, you might be concerned. If your interest is Endostatin protein therapy in humans, which is what EntreMed is testing, it looks like a non-issue. For a more full discussion go here: messages.yahoo.com Q: "I read some abstracts on PubMed that associate higher Endostatin levels with a worse cancer prognosis. If Endostatin fights cancer, how can this be?" A: Endostatin is a natural by-product and inhbitor of capillary creation. Therefore, larger, faster-growing tumors put more of it into circulation, despite it being an inhibitor. Dr. Judah Folkman sometimes likes to compare cancer to an infection. If you had a really bad infection, your white blood cell count would be very high. However, everyone agrees that white blood cells fight infection. Amgen even has a blockbuster drug called Neupogen for raising the white blood cell counts of cancer patients who have become susceptible to infection, due to the effects of chemotherapy on bone marrow. In a similar fashion, EntreMed would like to give cancer patients enough Endostatin to stop tumor capillary creation. Q: "If EntreMed's prospects are so great, why is over 25% of the float (4+ million shares) short?" A: On average, the odds of small biotech companies succeeding are long. That is enough reason for many people to short the shares of a company that is perceived to have attracted undeserved or premature attention. And obviously some people believe EntreMed will not succeed. However, there are other theories for the extraordinarily large short position here: messages.yahoo.com "How many drugs is EntreMed developing and what is the phase of that development?" A: Two drugs are in phase-II trials: Endostatin (a protein) and Panzem (a small, steroid-derived molecule). Angiostatin (a protein) has successfully completed phase-I trials and expected to start phase-II very soon. There are a handful of other preclinical drugs. For a complete chart, look here: entremed.com Q: "We've read people talking about the 'failures' and 'disappointments' of antiangiogenic drugs. Isn't that a discouraging sign or EntreMed?" A: The first generation of drugs dubbed "antiangiogenic" have met with clinical setbacks, like marimastat, SU5416, and anti-VEGF. But, it is important to understand that these are indirect inhibitors of angiogenesis, rather than direct ones. The unfortunate setbacks of the indirect inhibitors, either due to toxicity or lack of efficacy, further validate the approach of targeting the angiogenic endothelial cell directly, regardless of proangiogenic stimulus. The direct, endogenous inhbitors are moving smoothly through the clinical trials, without any of the problems associated with the indirect inhibitors. Dr. Folkman's recent article in Cancer Cell puts this issue in perspective, and is understandable to a wide audience. cancercell.org [Please send FAQ corrections & ideas to cpeptide@ragingbull.com] Best Regards, C-Peptide