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

To: Icebrg who wrote (8714)	6/21/2003 7:04:31 PM
From: Icebrg	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 52153

MYGN - Those were the days. Myriad Genetics Receives $41 Million in Equity Placement Salt Lake City, October 31, 2000 Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) announced today that it has received $41 million in a direct private equity placement with Acqua Wellington North American Equities Fund, Ltd. (Acqua Wellington). Myriad Genetics sold 400,000 restricted shares of common stock to Acqua Wellington. Myriad has agreed to register these shares for resale within 90 days of the transaction. This is the second equity investment in Myriad Genetics by Acqua Wellington. Myriad plans to use the proceeds of this transaction to accelerate its proteomic, pharmacogenomic and drug development programs. Specifically, the Company is making good progress toward moving its lead compound, which may be useful for the prevention and treatment of colon cancer, into human clinical trials. To date, all in vitro experiments have shown efficacy with little or no toxicity. The colon cancer drug candidate appears to selectively kill human colon cancer cells without harming normal healthy cells. The proceeds of this transaction will be used to finance this and other drug development opportunities. I came across this while looking a little bit at Myriad Genetics. Those shares were sold for just over 100 USD a piece. Arguably the best sales transaction that the company ever has entered into. Apart from that. Is there anyone here with an opinion on Myriad? They caught my eye as a company with revenues rising year over year. Year 2000 they booked revenues of 34 mUSD. During the current year they should land somewhere between 62 and 65 mUSD, if past performance is anything to go by. (They close their books in 8 days time). Of course, as all true biotechs they expand their costs even faster. But at least they already generate revenues from their diagnostic business. Which is more than what can be said about most biotechs, who prefer to live through the goodwill (or perhaps rather shortsightedness) of their shareholders. A look into their portfolio gives a somewhat mixed picture. They have really filled the company with a very diverse bag of potential "goodies". Exactly how good remains to be seen. Short-term the company will stand or fall with their cancer drug as I see it. An isomer of an NSAID-drug! Which also their phase I Alzheimer's drug turns out to be. Is this high-tech? Apart from it being surprising. I have been looking out for some kind of clinical results for their most advanced drug (Flurizan), which is now in Phase IIb. But there really is not much to find. At least I can't. The company seems more than anything else to rely on positive PSA data. Perhaps this is what should be expected from a company building a business around diagnostics. Or maybe not - when I read about new cancer drugs, I would like to see complete responses or at least partial responses if not times to disease progression. So these PSA-reductions don't really tell me very much. Any ideas about how good or non-significant such reductions could turn out to be? The genetics is supposed to be first-class, but years and years from commercialization. Perhaps they could have a talk with DD of T-12 fame. No, rather not. In the past they have said that their plan is to advance the cancer drug all the way to the public. If that is still the plan, their cash-burn will increase dramatically. They will have to raise more funds. Etc. etc. But maybe they are not only older but also wiser now and instead license the drug to someone else if the data are good enough. If they are not - they could just as well drop it. The AD drug is interesting, but I think we will hold it at that. There were recently some noises about NSAIDs not working in the prevention of AD. But the Myriads seem to believe, that they are shooting at another target: MPC-7869 for the Treatment and Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease MPC-7869 holds promise as a safe and effective drug for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease. MPC-7869 is the pure R-enantiomer form of flurbiprofen - an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) with 25 years of clinical experience behind it. Unlike NSAIDs, however, MPC-7869 is not an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase enzymes (COX-1 and COX-2). The compound modulates the signal transduction and transcription activation pathways associated with nuclear factor kappa B (NFkB), a principle transcription factor in the expression of many molecules involved in cell growth, cell death and inflammation. In addition, MPC-7869 has recently been shown to reduce Abeta42 peptide levels in vitro and in vivo, and reduce amyloid pathology in the brain. MPC-7869 has an excellent safety profile and is very potent in animal models of cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Interesting, but also early days. NF-kappa-B again. Starts to pop everywhere now. Any opinions? Erik