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Biotech / Medical : GelTex Pharmaceuticals (GELX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: NY0001 who wrote (33)	10/24/1997 12:00:00 PM
From: James Silverman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 127

Neuro, Its not that I am discounting neutraceuticals, I just don't feel they will negatively impact the drug companies that are heavy into cholesterol lowering agents: WLA, MRK, BMY, GELX, KOSP etc etc. Drugs are becoming a very accepted and standard first line of therapy for lipid alteration, this will be tough to change. Don't confuse that to imply I think neutraceuticals will flop. I guess I just don't see it as an either, or equation.

To: NY0001 who wrote (33)	10/25/1997 2:23:00 PM
From: Robert Holmes	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 127

Cholestagel works by binding bile acid in the intestine, forcing the liver to make more. To manufacture bile acid, the liver requires cholesterol which it gets by extracting it from the blood, thereby reducing a patients cholesterol level. Rasio, from my understanding, limits the amount of cholesterol that is absorbed from ingested sources. There is a significant population of people whose bodies maintain a naturally high level of cholesterol in the blood even if they control their intake of cholesterol. Rasio would not help these patients. Lastly, most patients taking statins or other pharmaceuticals require decreases in cholesterol levls that can not be acheived with a product like Rasio. The only figure I've seen for Rasio is somewhere around a 10% reduction. While this would certainly be healthful for the general population, it does not approach the level required for those currently taking statins and bile acid sequestrants. The two classes of products are complimentary, not competitive.