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Biotech / Medical : Pharma News Only (pfe,mrk,wla, sgp, ahp, bmy, lly) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (357)	6/19/1998 12:04:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1722

On Merck, Bristol-Myers and Progenics, from Bloomberg "Equity Movers" this morning: Merck & Co. (MRK) rose as much as 2 1/16 to 130 15/16 as Astra AB (A) said it will buy the drugmaker's half of their U.S. sales venture in a transaction based on future sales for at least $4.4 billion, paving the way for Sweden's biggest drug company to merge with a rival if it wants. Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (PGNX) rose as much as 2 3/8 to 16 3/4 as the biotechnology company said its lead cancer vaccine, GMK, was reported to induce antibodies in vaccinated melanoma patients that potentially killed cancer cells. Progenics is collaborating with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) in the vaccine's development, and the drugmaker has an exclusive worldwide license to sell the vaccine. Progenics also said dosing levels of its HIV treatment, PRO 542, shown previously in vitro to neutralize clinical strains of the disease, are being well- tolerated by patients in its Phase I/II trials. Bristol Myers rose as much as 1 3/16 to 114 3/16.

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (357)	6/19/1998 12:06:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1722

Progenics' GMK killed cancer cells in study Friday June 19, 10:29 am Eastern Time TARRYTOWN, N.Y., June 19 (Reuters) - Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. said Friday that it found promising clinical results for GMK, its skin cancer vaccine, and that the drug is currently in pivotal Phase III trials. The biopharmaceutical firm conducted Phase I/II clinical trials on 52 malignant melanoma patients who received the vaccine, and said that more than 95 percent of vaccinated patients produced antibodies which killed the cancer-causing cells with no significant side effects in patients. Progenics said it is collaborating with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY - news) to develop GMK and has granted to Bristol-Myers exclusive worldwide license to commercialize the vaccine. The company estimates that 300,000 people in the U.S. have melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. Progenics also reported that preliminary Phase I/II studies for its HIV fighting drug, called PRO 542, indicate that PRO 542 was well-tolerated at the two dose levels examined to date. The Phase I/II study in HIV-positive adults is being conducted at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. Progenics said the treatment is a fusion protein which neutralizes HIV by binding to certain glycoproteins on the HIV envelope, preventing the virus from binding to the cell surface, and then detaching that glycoprotein, thereby inactivating the virus. Progenics is collaborating with Genzyme Transgenics Corp (GZTC - news) to produce PRO 542 in the milk of transgenic animals.