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

To: John O'Neill who wrote (23352)	7/19/1998 3:32:00 PM
From: tonyt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

The problem with LGND is dilution, and Wall Steet probably is concerned that there will be further dilution in the future (their recent acquisition cost them a fair amount of cash). Pipelines are nice, but until the drugs pass FDA approval and get to market, its nothing more than a "Pipedream". LGND is trading lower than where it was almost 2 years ago (see #Subject-8060 btw, at the 10,000th post the predictions were for $30 #reply-2520126). It would appear that here has been no reason to buy this stock early, contrary to the 23,000+ posts that would have us think otherwise.

To: John O'Neill who wrote (23352)	7/19/1998 7:17:00 PM
From: smh	Respond to of 32384

There have been many comments on this thread, over the last several months, speculating about off-lable usage - all of them subdued. While anticipated off-lable usage appears to clearly be part of LGND's strategy, its communication to shareholders is subtle. I have assumed that it is probably unseemly to blatantly advertise such an intent prior to the initial approval of a drug for the more limited indication. Perhaps we can open up this discussion on off-lable use. I have viewed it as something well beyond anything the "market" would pick up on and, therefore, something that could very well lead to upward surprises. Am I off the mark on this off-lable thing? Questions for Henry (or others). Do you think that LGND is following an "off-lable" stategy? Are there any examples where others have tried this strategy? Is this a form of "leverage" (like Richard Harmon likes to talk about)?

To: John O'Neill who wrote (23352)	7/20/1998 8:07:00 AM
From: RevMikeB	Respond to of 32384

<<<The stock price is reflection of the "markets" valuation...& they know LGND has a strong pipeline..does that mean the don't have confidence in the company focus to deliver?>>> Granted, Biotechs have been lagging most of the year, but LGND's stock price can't be blamed only on the sector. The answer is dilution, pure and simple. Those who think dilution isn't something to be concerned about are fooling themselves. Further dilution can easily cancel out any earnings over the next, say 5 years. If that's true, why should I be in this stock now??? <<<Second, most of the drugs right now have small markets...I think there could be many off-lable uses, yet the stock price, once again, doesn't reflect this??>>> Again, could the real problem be dilution? If a few small market drugs help you increase your earnings by half over the next three years, but you also dilute your shares by half, it's a WASH! I do think off-label uses of Targretin for breast cancer, for instance, will be very sizable, but it might be too early for the market to believe this. A whole lot of the problem with Ligand, like many other bio techs is estimating earnings for potential drugs. The complexity of the deals that LGND and others strike with the big drug companies makes this even harder to understand. Future "milestone" payments, etc. often lack the specifics. Any comments?