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Biotech / Medical : MGI Pharma MOGN New patents, anti cancer -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David Cathcart who wrote (1122)	10/16/1998 1:09:00 PM
From: lrb	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1826

I listened to the CC yesterday, and felt better about MOGN's situation than I did after reading the earnings release. My concern was that Salagen sales were not growing; that the Sjogren's indication was not panning out as we had hoped. Blitzer was very upbeat on Salagen's progress in the call. Revenue from Salagen increased only 6% over the preceding quarter. But they said that the data that tracks sales of Salagen by wholesalers to pharmacies (DDD Data?), which tends to be less volatile than MGI's direct sales, continued to show growth near the high end of its historical range, which they said was between 6% and 40%. These numbers are from memory, someone can correct me if I've misquoted. They said that the sales force still had lots of physicians in the appropriate specialty to contact; they believe continued growth is sustainable. The head of research, in response to questions about the significance of the PI tumor shrinkage, said that while no one would consider predicting FDA approval based on the outcome of a single patient, he believed that it is probable that MGI-114 will find a place in the market. I hope someone who took notes during the call will be able to relate more precisely what he said during this exchange, because I want to ask thread experts about it. For those of you with real knowledge of the science and the industry, can you comment on the significance of a single patient in a PI trial experiencing a partial response in treatment for pancreatic cancer, and another patient exhibiting a minor response (< 50% shrinkage) in treatment for cancer of the thymus? They continued their stonewalling on the Euro partner issue. A deal will be made sometime in the future when a certain set of things happen, without any elaboration on what those things are or when they might happen. I am less frustrated by this position than I was three months ago, because MGI appears less vulnerable than it did then, what with good growth in Salagen sales and positive cash flow. I suspect Blitzer is unwilling to commit to a schedule lest it be used by a potential partner to get concessions that he doesn't want to make. -- lrb