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

To: Mr. Giller who wrote (13838)	1/28/1998 1:32:00 PM
From: Anant Kamath	Respond to of 32384

Hi all, as a ligand stock holder it seems like we're majorly in the doldrums. Perhaps, henry has some insight. One the other hand, what is the deal with Gilead Sciences (GILD)? Huge volume and price jump but no news. Why can't that happen to us? Anant

To: Mr. Giller who wrote (13838)	1/28/1998 1:37:00 PM
From: Hippieslayer	Respond to of 32384

Any news except for bad news. Maybe if everyone just stopped posting for a couple of weeks, then maybe the stock will go up.

To: Mr. Giller who wrote (13838)	1/28/1998 4:17:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

The current edition of Genetic Engineering News: genengnews.com has an article entitled "Signal Transduction Update - Small-Molecule Signaling Drugs for Diabetes, Cancer, and Angiogenesis" by Bonnie Joy Sedlak. Although it begins by taking about ARIA's ARGENT technology, the lion's share of news about clinicals is reserved for Ligand: "Pharmaceutical Partners Many companies continue to generate small signaling molecules as orally available drugs for pharmaceutical partners, forming new partnerships and extending existing ones. A few companies have advanced such drug candidates to the clinic. The most advanced clinical compounds are Ligand Pharmaceutical Inc.'s (San Diego, CA) retinoid drugs and Cell Therapeutic Inc's (CTI; Seattle, WA) lisophylline (LSF), which are in phase III trials. Ligand and Eli Lilly and Co. (Indianapolis, IN) began a strategic alliance in November to discover drugs for diabetes, insulin resistance and obesity based on Ligand's RXR (retinoid X receptor) intracellular technology. Lilly receives rights to Targretin, which is an orally aactive synthetic retinoid analog that activates a subclass of RXRs. This drug is in early clinical development for Type II diabetes in Europe. Lilly also gets rights to two second-generation oral compounds that are in preclinical development. In addition, Ligand gave Lilly exclusive rights to the HNF4 (hepatic nuclear factor 4) receptor and its obesity-gene promoter technology. The role of RXR antagonists in obesity was demonstrated in animal models and the compounds have potential both as single-agent drugs and in combination with anti-diabetic compounds like PPAR (peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor agonists. Both companies will seek drug leads to activate PPAR to treat cardiovascular disease. Cancer Therapeutics Because Targretin has a role in controlling programmed cell death, the drug is a potentially valuuable anti-cancer agent. Both oral and topical formulations are in pivotal Phase III trials for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Phase II/III data demonstrated complete and partial responses in patients with advanced disease. CTCL is a debilitating cancer characterized by painful skin lesions that can cover 50% of a patient's skin surface. The company also has several ongong Phase II trials for a variety of indications to determine which disease populations to advance to Phase III testing. Ligand is developing another retinoid, Panretin, as a once-daily oral medication for patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed APL (acute promyelocytic leukemia). The Phase I/IIA trials indicated that the drug is well tolerated and, because several patients in the study had complete remissions, it appears that Panretin induces a durable response in retinoid-sensitive patients. Based on these encouraging outcomes, the compant initiated a Phase III multicenter study in the US, Canada, and Europe. Panretin gel shows promise with AIDS=related Kaposi's sarcoma. Ligand stopped a Phase III international trial early last August, when the interim analysis indicated that the drug was effective. About 40% of the patients treated with the Panretin gel acheived a complete or partial response, compared with only 7% of the placebo treated patients. A Phase III US trial is underway as well as a trial for Panretin in oral form. Drug trials are also underway in breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer patients." The article also has a large graphic entitled "Control of Gene Expression" which shows a cell, and the molecular mechanisms for IRs and STATs. There is also a table whicgh lists LGND's clinical trials status, and LGND is the only company, other than CTI, which has drugs in Phase III trials (and the only one with more than one compound in Phase III). The vast majority of the companies are in the drug discovery or licensing phases.

To: Mr. Giller who wrote (13838)	1/28/1998 6:54:00 PM
From: Andreas Helke	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 32384

The really important news that will bring the price up and keep it there will be rapidly rising positive numbers in the earnings column of quarterly reports. Of course this will need a few years to be really convincing. Until then we will keep our rollercoaster ride. I expect the next serious upside move to be in anticipation of NDAs and drug approvals. Andreas