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

To: Andrew H who wrote (13084)	1/8/1998 5:12:00 AM
From: William B. Kohn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

Andy, why now? I really feel that Bernie ranks up with a handful of individuals on this site for bringing ideas and clarity to many others, like me. I haven't read a thing of late from Bernie that would get him in trouble again. Please tell Bernie that I will indeed miss him. willyb

To: Andrew H who wrote (13084)	1/8/1998 8:28:00 AM
From: tonyt	Respond to of 32384

With drug pipeline full, biotechs gear up for big year ============================================== Investors bitten by the Asian flu may be wary of biotech stocks in 1998, but observers expect to see broad progress in the sector this year. Major drugs from COR Therapeutics, Genentech Inc., Chiron Corp., Gilead Sciences and Shaman Pharmaceuticals, among others, could gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval or at least complete clinical trials in 1998. And recent reforms in the FDA approval process could begin to speed regulatory review considerably. Chiron benefited last month when Johnson & Johnson's Regranex drug for treating diabetic foot ulcers, using an active ingredient made by Chiron, won an FDA OK. Chiron has several major products, including its Myotrophin drug for Lou Gehrig's disease, on track for FDA approval, and its DepoCyt anti-cancer drug, which is awaiting further FDA review after hitting an impasse late last year. Similarly, COR's Integrilin drug for treatment of cardiac disease, is scheduled for review by an FDA panel late this month. Although Integrilin and Myotrophin each failed to gain FDA approval last year, they're back for a second try. In general, the product pipeline - including drug candidates in final Phase III trials and in penultimate Phase II clinical trials - is fuller than ever, according to Jim McCamant, editor of the Berkeley-based Medical Technology Stock Letter, which tracks the biotech industry. Meanwhile, McCamant and other observers expect to see a continuation this year of the recent urge to merge both in the biotech realm and in the broader, so-called "Big Pharma" sector. In recent years, many of the world's largest pharmaceutical firms have joined forces, creating behemoths like Novartis. That activity has been mirrored in the Bay Area, where several major mergers were completed or initiated last year. South San Francisco's Arris Pharmaceutical Corp. is in the midst of acquiring San Diego's Sequana Therapeutics Inc. in a $166 million stock swap. Meanwhile, in February Novartis acquired the portion of Palo Alto's SyStemix Inc. it didn't already own for $76 million, and Foster City's Cell Genesys Inc. acquired Alameda-based Somatix Therapy Corp. in late May for about $105 million. Another hot arena in 1997 was genomics, where Palo Alto's Incyte Pharmaceuticals and Santa Clara-based Affymetrix Inc. leaped into unaccustomed prominence. All signs point to continued success, although the companies' recent stock prices have felt much of the sector's late-year chill. Still, maturation of the biotech market and continued consolidation are likely to dominate 1998, according to Mark Edwards, managing director of Recombinant Capital Inc., a San Francisco-based biotech consulting firm Changes in capital-gains taxes make investment in biotech research more lucrative than ever, Edwards said, but consolidation in the Big Pharma and biotech realms is still very much "a work in progress." Warns Edwards: "It's going to hit the Bay Area."