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Biotech / Medical : XOMA. Bull or Bear? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Edward Paule who wrote (6937)	8/13/1998 6:14:00 PM
From: opalapril	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 17367

<A depressing message> Edward: Happy to have you propping up Xoma's price! I'm reluctant to rain on your parade but don't you want to rethink your strategy? ICOS is doing very well, as you know, because a lot of very knowledgeable people with gravitas think it's about to do much better. The CF trials are looking very promising and even Rathmann has been crowing, in his quiet way, the last few days. Something's up over there. A lot of us stuck ourselves in the Xoma tar baby using the same reasoning you just expressed. We thought it had decent prospects and was selling at an attractive price and so bought in, only to see the price go lower...and lower...and lower. Meanwhile, at least in my case, the stocks I thought might be picked up later (with profits from Xoma, I am embarrassed to admit) at lower prices have basically doubled or tripled or quadrupled in the past few years or less. Older, wiser heads than mine around here (George, Tharos, RobertK) seem to think the problem is Wall Street doesn't understand sepsis. I'm beginning to think it understands it all too well. How many anti-sepsis drugs have shown promise, then fizzled and died? The Biotech Boot Hill is littered with them. We all are hoping there isn't a gravestone with Xoma's name on it, but candor requires the admission that the odds are not with us. They're with the bugs. Not so ICOS, maybe. It is an impressive company with truly impressive management, an outstanding scientific staff including some world renowned researchers, a very broad spectrum of interesting looking drugs well along in the process, and people running the show who have established track records for making their investors money. We'd all like Xoma to fit that description some day. It sure doesn't at the moment. In the meantime why trade in a proven winner?