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

To: DNA-Jock who wrote (10904)	3/10/2004 4:55:38 PM
From: Biomaven	Respond to of 52153

Pharmas got hurt today by worries over pricing legalities: Pfizer Faces Grand Jury, Justice Probes of Medicines (Update3) March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drugmaker, said the Justice Department is investigating the company's marketing of two of its medicines and a federal grand jury is seeking information on its Rezulin diabetes drug. The Justice Department probe also relates to some managed- care payments, New York-based Pfizer said in a regulatory filing. The company acquired the Genotropin growth-hormone treatment and Bextra painkiller through its $60 billion purchase of Pharmacia Corp. last year, said Pfizer company spokesman Paul Fitzhenry. State and federal authorities are investigating drugmakers including Pfizer as officials examine practices that may break rules on medicine pricing and advertising. Pennsylvania's attorney general today sued the company and 12 other drugmakers alleging they inflated prices for medicines with marketing costs. ``It's certainly part of doing business in the pharmaceutical industry,'' said Scott Henry, an Oppenheimer & Co. who rates Pfizer shares ``neutral'' and owns none. ``It seems that everyone pushes the envelope, and at some point you get pushed back.'' Pfizer is cooperating with the investigations, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Fitzhenry declined to comment further. Lilly said yesterday that a probe of its marketing practices by the agency may be widened to included schizophrenia treatment Zyprexa, its best-selling drug. Companies that violate fraud laws can be barred from doing business with U.S. health-insurance plans such as the Medicare program for 41 million elderly and disabled citizens. Shares of Pfizer fell 75 cents to $36.55 as of 3 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange trading. They've risen 25 percent in a year. Grand Jury A federal grand jury in Maryland wants testimony from former Warner-Lambert Co. employees related to Rezulin, Pfizer said in the filing. Pfizer bought Warner-Lambert in 2000. Rezulin has been the subject of personal-injury suits, claiming the drug damaged some patients' livers. The drug was taken off the market in 2000. Pfizer had $955 million in costs in the fourth quarter as it set aside money to resolve claims over Rezulin. The company said in January that it reached agreements on cases involving about 35,000 people whose suits will be settled or withdrawn. As of Jan. 20, about 9,300 people had outstanding claims or lawsuits against the company regarding Rezulin and weren't part of any settlements, Pfizer said. Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Pappert accused Pfizer and a dozen other companies in a lawsuit of inflating drug prices with marketing costs. Pappert targeted the companies' efforts to gain market share by offering cash payments and free trips to doctors to promote sales of their drugs. Guidelines The federal government has guidelines on the relationships drugmakers have with doctors to discourage companies from compensating physicians for consulting services or from providing entertainment or travel, if the purpose is to generate business. The Pennsylvania suit was the second in two days alleging the pharmaceutical industry inflated prices. Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro yesterday made similar allegations against companies including Abbott Laboratories and Schering-Plough Corp. Besides Pfizer, the Pennsylvania suit named TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc.; AstraZeneca Plc; Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline Plc; Amgen Inc.; Schering-Plough; Bristol-Myers Squib Co.; Johnson & Johnson; Baxter International Inc.; Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Boehringer Ingelheim Corp; and Dey Inc. Peter

To: DNA-Jock who wrote (10904)	3/11/2004 2:35:19 AM
From: JMarcus	Respond to of 52153

Elixir Pharmaceuticals – Ed Cannon, CEO, gave the presentation. He’s a rather distinguished looking older gentleman. He speaks well, with cogency and conviction. The company’s focus is age-related diseases. Their guiding thesis is that by studying the genomes of families blessed with longevity with good health, one should be able to discover drugable targets for treating age-related diseases. The company has completed two rounds of financing: $14M in Series A and $41.5M in Series B. Their most advanced drug candidates are being studied in animal disease models. They believe that a dozen or more drugable targets may be found in the DAF-2 longevity pathway. Inhibition of this pathway in the worm, c. elegans, can result in a doubling of the organism’s lifespan. Not only do these DAF-2 inhibiting worms live longer, they are also more resistant to disease. The mechanism of action appears to involve the organism’s ability to sense changes in its environment so as to enable the organism to respond to stressed conditions with appropriate metabolic changes, including the up regulation of repair functions, such as expression of anti-oxidants. The result is the minimization of cell or organ damage during times of stress. Elixir is looking for small molecules that antagonize/inhibit signaling in the DAF-2 pathway. The expected effects would be (a) reduced feeding, (b) reduced levels of glucose in the bloodstream, (c) reduced production of insulin, and (d) reduced weight gain. These effects have been shown to occur in mice that have had their DAF-2 pathways inhibited. Elixir has purchased an exclusive license to the Sir2 family of drugs, which inhibit the DAF-2 pathway. They have also in-licensed an Indy gene and a "the largest commercially consented collection of centenarian genomes and medical records." Elixir’s VC partners include MPM Capital, Oxford Bioscience, and ARCH Venture Partners. The company has a sufficient supply of cash to take it well into Phase I clinical trials. I picked up an investor packet. If you PM me your email address, I could scan and email most of it to you. Marc