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

To: Mudcat who wrote (23025)	7/10/1998 7:38:00 AM
From: Henry Niman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 32384

The mimic screening can be applied to any polypeptide hormone. The SBH alliance targets hematopoietic growth factors with Neupogen and Epogen at the top of the list. LGND screens compounds (and based on the name of the compound described today in Science it looks like the G-CSF mimic was identified in an SBH library) and gets milestone and royalty payments from SBH. Recently, leptin was added to the LGND collaboration with SBH. At the San Diego field trip Robinson said the SBH was "gobbling up" LGND's targets, indicating that they are expanding their hematopoietic growth factor alliance. LGND has several internal STATs program. Right now STATs are about 25% of LGND's effort (with about 75% going toward IRs). I had heard that the STAT/IR effort ratio was heading for 50/50, but Ligand investor relations hadn't heard that. Recently LGND announced advances in designer progestins and designer androgens, both of which are on the IR side, so it's hard to say. I think that LGND's most advanced internal STAT programs outside of the SBH alliance are interferon and IL-4. LGND has about 100 targets (receptors) that it develops. They are grossly underfunded and I suspect that there will be more partnerships and expansion of existing programs (ABT uses STAT technology as part of its inflammation alliance with LGND).