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

To: RXGOLF who wrote (21069)	5/18/1998 8:22:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 32384

Heres' what Dow Jones had to say about LGND's press releases: Dow Jones Newswires -- May 18, 1998 Ligand Pharma Says Panretin Not Linked To Anti-HIV Effect LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones)--Final data from a Phase II study of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s (LGND) Panretin capsules for patients with AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma shows that the drug is not linked to an anti-HIV effect. In a press release Monday, the company said the results of the study show that the observed responses were not due to antiretroviral therapy. The study resulted in an overall response rate of 37%, including two patients with complete response. The final analysis of 66 enrolled patients showed that 74% were white males, the median age was 38 years and median CD4+ count was 195. About 88% of the patients were receiving at least three antiretroviral agents when the study began, including 56% who were receiving protease inhibitors. Some 71% of the patients received prior therapy for Kaposi's sarcoma, including 29 patients who had local treatment and 45 patients who had received systemic chemotherapy or immunotherapy. Despite three- and four-drug antiretroviral regimes, the majority of patients had high levels of detectable HIV RNA. There was no difference in response rate in those patients who had detectable viral RNA and those who did not. Only two patients had greater than a one log decline in viral RNA at any time during the study. Ligand plans to complete development and to file a new drug applications for Panretin capsules in AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma in 1999. Also, Ligand reported that its anti-tumor compound, LDG1550, a retinoic acid receptor-selective retinoid, was well-tolerated in Phase I/II clinical trials in advanced cancers.