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Biotech / Medical : Napro Biotherap(npro) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: debra vogt who wrote (363)	1/27/1999 7:39:00 PM
From: John McCarthy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 478

Hi Debra .... I don't know if you have been following the NPRO Yahoo board or not - so I thought I'd fill you in. It's been a long wait ..... What follows are rumors .... and a smidgen of guessing here and there ... (1) Apparently this thing with Abbott happens on Feb 3/Feb 8. (2) Its a two-party thingie i.e. it is Abbott and SOMEBODY ELSE ... Abbott plays the strong arm and SOMEBODY ELSE humps the stuff with their sales force. (3) If you think about #2, think about what the current gross margin % must be for Taxol. (4) There are two key elements going forward: File with the FDA? ... My best guess is NOV/DEC. And, (and this is fun) LEARN THESE WORDS: ADMINISTRATION PATENT or DOSING PATENT <G>. NPRO's patent is for short periods of infusion at a high dose and BMY's for longer periods at a lower dose. AnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnD Guess What? Some folks I trust on Yahoo have posted that they are hearing that certain salesmen are advising their customers to go to shorter dosing periods even though .... (a) it is not what the FDA approved .... (b) and within certain limits, NPRO has the PATENT to that spectrum of DOSING <g> (c) and NPRO'S BUYER is ALREADY aware of this ... Incidentally, I already know that there are more and more Taxol trials being done testing shorter dosing ... (5) I am still waiting for IVAX to get the OK for Paxene in Europe. Individual Investor Magazine wrote thatit might come in January. We had some difficult discussions about Paxene (IVAX) on Yahoo and the bottom line is ... nobody EXPECTS IVAX to use NPRO ... but nobody has a clue WHO they will use .... Again, there is heresay that some of the deals IVX did to tie up some Paclitaxel have not worked out ... but I just don't know whats going on. As you know, if IVAX comes to NPRO ... we is INSTANTLY over $10.00. Frost (main dude at Ivx) is hell bent on doing BMY .... (6) One of today's rumors is that NPRO gets to KEEP their Faulding Revenues (about $1.0 mil. a qtr.) and if you don't know - Faulding is getting a lot more aggressive and has good success in Australia and Singapore. (On the other hand, I think China is a DEAD-END) (7) On their end ... Abbott announced last week that they have STOPPED their stock buy back program. I figure NPRO goes someplace over $4.00 .... and when we get close to FDA time ... maybe FINALLY .... back to $10.00. BTW - BMY did 1998 Taxol sales of $1.2 billion .... grrrr Word is they are going after TWO NEW INDICATIONS FOR IT IN 1999 .... MS and Alzheimers (8) Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water CATEGORY ..... While all this is going on ... a company called NeoPharm (NEO) has taken (2) chemo drugs and ENCAPSULATED THEM IN A LIPOSOME. (a) One drug is referred to as LED ... in Phase 2. (b) The other ... LEP (Liposome Encapsulated Paclitaxel) <BG> in Phase 1 (since Sept. I think) Do you see the picture ....? Right now ... with respect to NEO .... (a) Someone wants to buy into them for LED .... NEO just issued a VAGUE press release. (b) BMY wants to buy into them for LEP .... (which could give us problem(s) down the road) What I don't know is whether BMY wants to buy it to use it or buy it to keep it off the market. Lastly, to repeat, ALL OF THE ABOVE is rumor..... regards, John McCarthy