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Biotech / Medical : wla(warner lambert) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: squetch who wrote (169)	12/13/1997 2:24:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 942

Stan, Here's more on the LLY/LGND deal, including a projected start of US combination trials in 1999 (inluding Targretin combined with TZDs like Rezuli). Here's a report on the LGND/LLY deal. It indicates that the Phase II US monotherapy trial would begin in the second half of next year and combination trials would begin in 1999: 10/27/97 F-D-C Reports - "The Pink Sheet", page 9, www.fdcreports.com LILLY LOOKS TO LIGAND TARGRETIN AS ENTRY TO ORAL ANTIDIABETIC MARKET; ZYPREXA ANTIPSYCHOTIC SALES IN FIRST YEAR ON MARKET TOTAL $550 MIL.: PCS SALES GAIN 41% Lilly is gearing up to expand from its insulin franchise into the oral diabetes therapy market through an alliance with Ligand. The deal gives Lilly rights to Ligand's Targretin, a retinoid X receptor agonist, for type 2 diabetes indications. European Phase 11 trials in 40-50 patients began in March; Lilly will conduct U.S. Phase 11 studies, which Ligand expects will commence in the second half of 1998. The companies have plans to study Targretin in combination with thiazolidinediones (a class represented on the U.S. market by Warner-Lambert's Rezulin) and with insulin, as well as for monotherapy. Ligand estimated that combination trials would not start until 1999. Lilly also gains rights to two preclinical second generation oral antidiabetic compounds. The preclinical compounds, ALRT268 and ALRT324, were developed under the Allergan Ligand Retinoid Therapeutics joint venture, which Ligand recently announced it would buy back. As part of the ALRT buyback, Allergan will receive royalties on Targretin sales ("The Pink Sheet" Oct. 6, T&G-15). Lilly has a collaboration with Autoimmune for a diabetes product based on Autoimmune's oral tolerance technology; however, clinical trial setbacks for Autoimmune's first two products have cast doubt on the potential of the approach. Lilly is strong in the field of insulin-dependent diabetes, where it markets the Humulin line of human insulin and the insulin analog Humalog. The Ligand deal would leverage Lilly's diabetes marketing experience as uptake of newer insulin-sparing oral antidiabetics depresses the market for insulin. Bristol-Myers Squibb's leading branded NIDDM product, Glucophage, saw a sales increase of 82% to $167 milt for the third quarter (see preceding story). Lilly had a diabetes sales force of 115 reps as of May, Scott-Levin data show.