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Biotech / Medical : Immunicon Corporation (IMMC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Fizz who wrote (8)	8/12/2006 3:04:07 PM
From: tuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12

Anybody still around? The shares have come up from the $3s to the mid $4s on the back of a UBS upgrade (to neutral) and then this deal -- but note no terms disclosed -- with AstraZeneca: >>Immunicon and AstraZeneca Enter Research and Master Services Agreements Monday August 7, 7:00 am ET HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 7, 2006--Immunicon Corporation (NASDAQ-NM:IMMC - News) announced today that the Company entered into two separate agreements with AstraZeneca UK Limited. The Research Agreement establishes collaborations in three distinct scientific research projects related to the development of methodologies to identify and quantify certain cell types circulating in blood that are potentially valuable biomarkers for targeted therapies. Leon Terstappen, Chief Scientific Officer of Immunicon said, "We are very pleased to enter into these collaborations with AstraZeneca. We hope that the new assays that we plan to develop under the Research Agreement will help to accelerate AstraZeneca's therapy development by assessing the presence of their treatment targets and earlier determination of the effectiveness of these therapies." Donna Johnstone, Pre-clinical Director of Cancer Translational Medicine at AstraZeneca said, "The ability to molecularly characterize circulating tumor cells is a key advance in the era of targeted therapies. Our collaboration with Immunicon will significantly enhance our research base in this core area." In a second agreement, a Master Laboratory Services Agreement governs laboratory services that Immunicon will perform in connection with various drug development programs in the fields of cancer and infectious diseases. Initially, five projects will be initiated under this Master Laboratory Services Agreement where Immunicon will provide enumeration and characterization of circulating tumor cells and circulating endothelial cells as well as certain molecular characterization of these rare cells. Andrew Hughes, Clinical Director of Cancer Translational Medicine at AstraZeneca said, "As a recognized leader in this field, we are delighted to have secured Immunicon's support, in quantifying circulating cells across five of our ongoing clinical programs." Byron D. Hewett, President and Chief Executive Officer of Immunicon commented, "As the developer of the instrument and reagents for rare cell detection, Immunicon offers pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies a unique advantage in their efforts to develop new therapies and diagnostic techniques. Immunicon scientists will work closely with AstraZeneca scientists to develop new assays and kits. Our Pharma Services team, a group of marketing and scientific professionals within Immunicon, will work with AstraZeneca teams to test samples using our current portfolio of commercially available products, non-commercial research products and the products that emerge from our Research Agreement. We plan to use these products to validate the quantity and presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating endothelial cells (CECs) as well as to use the molecular assays we hope to develop as effective tools in aiding drug development. By working with AstraZeneca and other pharma/biotech companies as well as with the FDA, we hope to establish CTCs and CECs as standard biomarkers in drug development."<< snip Haven't looked at this in quite a while. I've seen reports (thanks, George!) predicting profitability in several quarters. If so, the shares still look cheap here. There is supposedly potential for this technology in cardiology and autoimmune disease, involving the Circulating Endothelial Cell kits, I presume. These are currently research only. But that means other deals could be coming. Edit: looking at analyst estimates, the "several quarters" to profitability seems optimistic. I haven't seen a model that goes beyond 2007, but estimates all predict a loss for that year. Plenty to look at at the website. The site map points most easily to papers and such: immunicon.com The stock is optionable, though I'd guess the options are not liquid. One problem is that with burn at around $21 million per year, and $33 million in cash, they might have to finance one more time. Another deal in the next year might stave off that issue. Cheers, Tuck