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

To: Lel H who wrote (23309)	7/17/1998 4:10:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

LelH, the submission date for the paper was Feb 4 (which dovetails well with the rumors associated with the Lake Tahoe presentations), so I think that the discovery on the species specificity was made by mid 1997 or earlier. The pipeline table has a discovery column as well as a selection column. I would think that some human data would be necessary for the compound to move into the "Selection" column since the compounds listed are destined for clinical trials. The article and associated review indicates that "the researchers were disappointed that the molecule works in mouse but not human cells", but of course it is again worded so the disappointment is in SB247464 and doesn't address the potential existence of another series. The experiments also indicate that the activity is not in the extracellular domain, so the precise mechanism of dimerization induction is not clear. However, the compound does work in mice (not just mouse cells) and produces a increase in neutrophils comparable to G-CSF.

To: Lel H who wrote (23309)	7/17/1998 4:38:00 PM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

The article closed with "...the paper has taken the field 'a quantum leap' along the path toward developing oral substitutes for protein drugs. Ligand plans to use luciferase-gene assays to search for substitutes for other cytokines that work through STATs, Lamb says. And the drug industry as a whole is likely to mount a broader search. 'The insulin receptors is fundamentally no different' from the G-CSF receptor, Goldsmith notes, pointing out that it too is activated by dimerization. 'Why not consider (searching for) a synthetic compound that can be taken as a pill and will activate your insulin receptors?' If drug companies aren't looking already, it certainly won't be long before they start."