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

To: Biotech Jim who wrote (21553)	5/29/1998 8:36:00 AM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

BJ, I wasn't at the shareholder's meeting, but Peter indicated that DR suggested that some publications were due out soon, and it sounded to me like C-GSF mimics. I'm fairly certain that the initial molecule discovered was mouse specific, but of course LGND was actively working on a human counterpart. I suspect that they have one (or several) but really are not talking about it (I don't think that they would have presented the mouse data prior to isolating a human counterpart and filing appropriate patents - DR has indicated that LGND is filing 3-4 patents per month). I believe that LGND's screening approach allows for easy identification of antagonists as well as agonists.

To: Biotech Jim who wrote (21553)	5/29/1998 11:18:00 AM
From: Peter Singleton	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

Biotech Jim, is any of the reading you've been doing in the cytokine agonist area available online, and if so, do you have links? btw, if I didn't mention, Robinson commented at the shareholder meeting that while current R&D is divided 80:20 IR:STAT, he expects the ratio to eventually be 50:50 ... didn't specify the time period he was thinking of. Peter

To: Biotech Jim who wrote (21553)	5/30/1998 11:05:00 AM
From: scaram(o)uche	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 32384

>> Also, Henry, do you know whether there are small molecule antagonists that block natural agonist binding? << Jim: Question based on in-depth knowledge a couple of years ago and total ignorance of work since then....... hasn't everyone pretty much given up on this route and focused on the inhibition of receptor dimerization? There were active programs, last I checked, at CORR and PDLI, among other companies. Maybe IR at one of these places will blow it and yield some clues relevant to the agonist binding pockets???? Rick

To: Biotech Jim who wrote (21553)	6/5/1998 6:45:00 AM
From: Henry Niman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 32384

BJ, I haven't heard directly from IR, but rumor has it that the data will be out in Science very soon (couple of weeks). Many o course thought that this was impossible, which is why it will be such a major news item. The unexpectedness also allows for the issuing of EXTREMELY broad patents. I suspect that such patents make up a significant number of the 3-4 patents per month that DR has mentioned. LGND is very active in the patent area and the upcoming Science article will show why they can generate such impressive numbers with such breadth. Since LGND is publishing the data (which I am guessing is on the mouse specific molecule), I suspect that they have a human version, and the discovery was related to heavy duty SBH activity on Links to Ligand. The recent annual report gives some indication of progress in the area (see home.att.net ). It looks like the lead candidate was selected over a year ago.