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Biotech / Medical : Biotransplant(BTRN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Biotech Jim who wrote (141)	11/28/1998 12:01:00 AM
From: Pseudo Biologist	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1475

Jim, re. table with brief descriptions of CD antigens: Try this: rncc.bidmc.harvard.edu or this for even more recent information: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov The anti-CD40-Ligand (or should I say anti-CD154? -g-) approach is quite exciting. I think the Kirk reference is key, here it is just in case: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1997 Aug 5;94(16):8789-94 CTLA4-Ig and anti-CD40 ligand prevent renal allograft rejection in primates. Kirk AD, Harlan DM, Armstrong NN, Davis TA, Dong Y, Gray GS, Hong X, Thomas D, Fechner JH Jr, Knechtle SJ ncbi.nlm.nih.gov I am not aware of data as strong as the above for anti-CD2. However, Rick does have special insight here, and I am curious to see his take. Both Biogen and IDEC are developing humanized antibodies against CD40L; interestingly IDEC has also began testing of a primatized MAb against B7 (not clear if B7.1 or B7.2) for psoriasis. None of these trials are in transplantation to my knowledge. Hope this helps some, and let's see what Rick has up his sleeve. Happy thanksgiving to you too, PB

To: Biotech Jim who wrote (141)	11/29/1998 3:18:00 PM
From: scaram(o)uche	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1475

BJ: Back from Thanksgiving at Tahoe. Not much snow, but very pretty and refreshing. I'm going to answer your post and PB's in several parts, to keep any one part from getting too long. First, "why have I invested in BTRN and why do I continue to buy on retreats?" The company is very conservative in communications. I know nada beyond what is in 10K/10Q, recent releases, etc. I will keep some of the stuff that I focus on close to the vest, however. The market cap is currently $16M. At the end of last quarter, they had $19M in cash. The burn (12.5M) is high relative to cash in-hand, so one needs to keep current sentiment in mind. Why is the market cap:cash ratio 1? The company is orphaned. Nobody follows it. So..... number one reason that I've invested..... a favorable cash position relative to market cap. MEDI-507 (anti-CD2) is just icing on the cake for me, not the primary reason that I've invested. Their central business is transplantation. I had a friend that carried an allogeneic kidney for years through a productive life. He faced crisis after crisis, and eventually died with two young children. Fortunately, he had foresight and the kids' mom is strong and independent. I'm certain that many of us know of someone in a similar position, and we'd know of more if there was a sufficient number of reasonably matched cadaveric donors. The cost to society of maintaining transplant candidates on dialysis and subsequently suppressing the immunity of those lucky enough to find a kidney (heart, lung, pancreas, liver, etc.) is enormous. Maintenance dialysis, U.S. only, costs about $6 billion per year. We are talking enormous socioeconomic benefit. Then there's the transplanted patients....... the cost of transplants in the U.S. and Europe are estimated at north of $5 billion per year. The existing markets are huge, and XenoMune would only expand access to needed organs. The punchline.... no company in the world, IMO, has a handle on these issues like BTRN does. David Sachs is one of my scientific heroes. He has been innovative and consistent for 30 years. I couldn't respect him more. Together with Megan Sykes and others, he has built a scientific powerhouse, the Transplantation Biology Research Center at MGH. For the AlloMune and XenoMune programs, MEDI-507 is used at depleting concentrations. That is, it is used as an inexpensive and consistent replacement for anti-thymocyte globulin. The XenoMune program is funded by Novartis. To answer an earlier posit by poodle, the funding bears on resemblance to a loan. Under certain favorable circumstances, the research funding would be repaid from product sales. No biggie, and only a plus. The AlloMune program has now received an OK for the IND, and the first transplants should occur within within Q1 '99. The procedures are extreme relative to those in current use..... not all transplant centers will transition readily to the creation of bone marrow chimeras, if and when the process is demonstrated to be effective. Thus, penetration would be a painful process. Nonetheless, the AlloMune program is not partnered. The program has been taken forward independently. OK, more later on anti-CD2. However, there's no comparable data compared to that of Kirk et al. for CTLA4-Ig/anti-CD40L, as the epitope recognized by 507 is not expressed on rhesus cells.... it is expressed only on human, chimp and gorilla, and it therefore is "straight to human testing" material. Later! Rick

To: Biotech Jim who wrote (141)	12/14/1998 5:47:00 PM
From: scaram(o)uche	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1475

BJ: Joe Davie is a hero, David Sachs is a hero...... what's a scientist to do? I never answered your question directly. Again, I invest in BTRN from the perspective of solid organ transplantation. 507 is, however, lots of the punch in what I regard as leverage. So..... I can't say that there's an advantage to anti-CD2 over anti-CD40L. There is just too much preclinical data behind CD40L for me to minimize the potential there (BGEN, IDPH, and..... as effector ligand..... IMNX). I've watched it closely, as I had some early, hands-on experience with Randy Noelle's antibody and the results blew me away. But, conceptually, it's better to intervene in a given, antigen-specific immune response than to immobilize responses in general. If you read this manuscript.... and I'd like to see the results demo'd in the hands of others......... you may be impressed. Rarely will you see such open and shut data. Makes me worry a bit, actually. J. Immunol. 160: 3797-3804, 1998 Patent coverage extends to any antibody that recognizes the CD2 epitope defined by 507. Rick