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

To: Harold Engstrom who wrote (24597)	8/17/1998 9:29:00 AM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

Harold, LGND has very powerful underlying technologies which are attractive to pharmaceuticals. They have done deals with several major companies (PFE, GLX, AGN, ABT, AHP, SBH, Sankyo, LLY) and the alliances target mega markets which cannot be independently addressed by a Biotech that is LGND's size. LGND has chosen cancer and now dermatology for focus of their in house programs. When they went public in 1992 they were expected to bring their first product to market (a retinoid) right about now. Panretin (9-cis retinoic acid) is clearly a Ligand product. In 1992 they reported the DISCOVERY of 9-cis retinoic acid as a natural hormone. It has been given priority review and the FDA must comment by Nov. LGND should be presenting in Oct/Nov and I would suspect that the vote for recommending approval will be unanimous. The Phase III International trial was halted because the data was so strong, and the drug is applied topically, which avoids systemic side effects. Moving a compound from discovery publication (1992) to the phamacy shelf (1998) in less than 7 years is remarkable for ANY company, but is especially remarkable for a developmental Biotech (which created one of the widest and deepest pipelines, home.att.net , in the sector while advancing its in-house products).

To: Harold Engstrom who wrote (24597)	8/17/1998 9:44:00 AM
From: Henry Niman	Respond to of 32384

This morning, Legg Mason maintained their BUY rec on LGND as well as their target price ($20). They also expect milestone payments in 2H '98 instead of 1H '98: LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (LGND) Analyst: Stefan D. Loren, Ph.D. PRICE 52-WEEK EPS - (FY Dec) P/E RATIO DIV SHRS MKT CAP LT DEBT INV./RISK TARGET 8/14/98 PRICE RANGE 1997A 1998E 1999E 1998E 1999E YIELD OUT(M) $M TO CAP RATINGS PRICE $8 13/16 $18-$8 ($1.06) ($1.03) $0.08 NM NM Nil 38.8 $341.9 89% B/4 $20 Legg Mason Wood Walker, Inc. makes a market in this security. ú Ligand reported a loss of $0.45 per share for 2Q98 compared with our estimate, and consensus estimate of a loss of $0.35 per share. ú Collaborative R&D revenues of $4.4 million were lower-than-expected and we now believe that milestone payments to the company will be more back-end loaded than originally expected. ú R&D expenditures of $17.3 million were also higher-than-expected as a result of expenses related to the completion of Phase III trials, and the preparation and submission of the New Drug Application (NDA) for Panretin gel. ú Ligand accomplished a number of strategic goals in 2Q98 including the filing of an NDA for Panretin gel, the expansion of the SmithKline Beecham collaboration, and the announcement of favorable research and clinical trial results. ú At present, we are maintaining our Buy rating on Ligand, with a 12 -18 month target price of $20 per share