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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Arthur Radley who wrote (12896)	12/31/1997 8:51:00 PM
From: Andrew H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

Hey dudes and dudettes, I had just assumed that these reports of upper body cancer efficacy referred to Targretin. But I started to do a little digging and it seems to me that LGND may be on the road to its 3rd winner (or 5th depending if you count Targretin and Panretin twice for the oral and gel forms). I think the drug being referred to (but not named) is ALRT 1550. Here is a portion of the press release I copied from prnewswire, which seems to be dealing with exactly what has been described. Below is the url; the date is December 19, 1996. These 1/11A trials were started about 1 year ago, so we should be hearing something about them soon. My guess is the news bits were referring to 1550, in which case it looks like LGND has a new winner!!! Of course, it will take time to move through trials, but perhaps if the results are good, they could go directly to one large P3 trial. prnewswire.com >>"Preclinical studies with ALRT1550 have reinforced our belief that therapeutics directed at the retinoid receptor subfamilies have potential to create powerful new therapeutic products that may improve clinical efficacy with much more tolerable side effects than those associated with chemotherapy," said Marvin E. Rosenthale, Ph.D., President, ALRT. "Preclinically, ALRT1550 is a potent antiproliferative agent in a broad range of cancers including breast cancer, leukemias and squamous cell epithelial cancers, such as head and neck cancers." Results of preclinical studies indicated that ALRT1550 is also effective at inhibiting the growth of established tumors in animal models of head and neck cancer. Nearly 40,000 people are diagnosed with head and neck cancer each year and there are few therapeutic alternatives for patients suffering from this life-threatening disease. Additional clinical targets for ALRT1550 which are currently under consideration include the following cancers: ovarian, cervical, head and neck, and breast. In vivo and in vitro studies indicated additive or synergistic effects of ALRT1550 in combination with chemotherapy agents and biological response modifiers. ALRT1550 is a proprietary retinoid-based compound that selectively stimulates RARs, which are intracellular receptors that mediate a variety of critical cellular activities, including cell proliferation and differentiation. Compounds which can selectively stimulate specific subsets of retinoid receptors have been shown to have promise as potential therapeutics that can deliver significant clinical benefits.<<