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Biotech / Medical : VD's Model Portfolio & Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jonathan romanowsky who wrote (6263)	1/15/1999 1:47:00 AM
From: Vector1	Respond to of 9719

Peter Suzman should answer that. He is the expert. V1

To: jonathan romanowsky who wrote (6263)	1/15/1999 12:14:00 PM
From: Biomaven	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9719

jonathan, PCYC is currently my second biggest holding. They have an excellent web site: www.pcyc.com where I recommend you look around. They basically have two technologies - a radiation sensitizer (Gd-Tex, now called Xcytrin) and a light sensitizer (Lu-Tex). Their radiation sensitizer has recently started Phase III in metastatic brain cancer. The light sensitizer has three distinct applications - cancer, cardiovascular (what I have dubbed "roto-rooter") and ophthalmology (macular degeneration). They are ahead of the pack in radiation and cardiovascular, but behind (time-wise) QLTIF and Miravant in ophthalmology. In cancer, they are similarly behind QLTIF (which has had an approved drug for a while), but their technology is better. They have basically retained all significant US rights and also have thusfar retained worldwide rights to Gd-Tex and their roto-rooter stuff. By the end of the year they should have close on 20 different trials running, most sponsored by NCI. The key markets are Gd-Tex, the roto-rooter and the ophthalmology. Plenty of cash (around $66 million at last report) Market cap around $250 million. On the negative side: The stock is extremely unpredictable - sharply up and down for no discernable reason. It's basically back where it was this time last year. Some analyst projections last year were wildly optimistic, particularly in timing, and I'm not sure if they've all come back to reality yet. Rick has raised questions about the CEO, Miller. The company dropped the ball on an early minor product (Gadolite), which was approved subject to stability studies and has since disappeared into limbo. The size of the Lu-Tex market for cancer is uncertain. Haven't heard anything about ophthalmology since it was licensed to Alcon around a year ago, which is a bit worrying. The stock has remained stubbornly absent from the VD portfolio <G>. Still, I view this stock as having multiple chances to be a 5 bagger or more. It's a stock that's within a year or two of having a significant product on the market, and I think stocks with that characteristic now offer among the best risk-reward ratios in the sector. Peter