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

To: Mudcat who wrote (28157)	2/10/1999 1:22:00 PM
From: Roland Batson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

This is very reassuring to my analysis. I had kind of thought that a drop back to 12 was more than reasonably expected. To see as low as 11 will only further confirm my my expected LGND trend. You don't see this taking too much longer do you? Thanks

To: Mudcat who wrote (28157)	3/23/1999 1:51:00 AM
From: Cheryl Galt	Respond to of 32384

Mudcat, I forgot what an optimist you are! But look at you back in February, expecting resistance in the 11 area. <g> Biotechs sure leave us all guessing, and our mud-splattered crystals balls are useless ... Regarding morphine sulphate competitors ... Oromorph and Morphelan are both pills. Oromorph is direct release. Oromorph SR and Morphelan are sustained release, with Oromorph SR given every 12 hours, and Morphelan every 24. I see Oromorph SR in drugstore.com-type websites, along with MS Contin. Which drug is better? Delivery certainly does make a difference, but Greg would be the one to address that issue. I do remember reading that Elan has some kind of special drug delivery system, that it is applying to various generics. We shall see... ------------------- It would be nice to know how soon Morphelan might be marketable. Is it in Phase III? Perhaps the coming annual report will let us know. Any extra revenue during the 1999-2000 transition period would help. A websearch on morphelan turned up 2 pieces of info, from cytogen press releases. In an Aug 11, 1997 Cytogen press release about Morphelan at cytogen.com we know that at that time, Morphelan had been tried in healthy volunteers. It also describes the drug: 'CYTOGEN ... and Elan ... announced today that its subsidiary Targon Corporation licensed from Elan ... the exclusive, worldwide rights for Elan's oral once-daily, controlled-release formulation of morphine sulfate, known as Morphelan. Elan is CYTOGEN's strategic partner in the Targon venture, in which the companies collaborate to bring new products to the oncology marketplace. Targon will be responsible for the further clinical development of the Morphelan drug, which has already been studied in normal volunteers. Following successful completion of clinical trials, Targon will prepare the New Drug Application submission to the FDA. Commenting on the Morphelan license, Thomas J. McKearn, CYTOGEN's CEO ... said: "The unique pharmacokinetic profile of the Morphelan product has the potential to offer patients more consistent morphine blood levels and provide them with around-the-clock pain relief from a single oral dose. This unique profile was achieved by utilization of Elan's proprietary drug delivery program. Targon will study the Morphelan drug as an analgesic therapy for moderate to severe pain. Based on currently available human data, the decreased variability in blood levels associated with this product may allow continuous relief with a decrease in side effects" ' --------------------- An Aug 14, 1998 cytogen press release at cytogen.com tells how the license for Morphelan returned to Elan. "Elan International Services, Ltd (EIS), an affiliate of Elan ... will acquire complete ownership of Targon Corporation and all remaining assets, including Morphelan(TM) the opioid analgesic product originally licensed by Elan to the venture. As such, the existing note from CYTOGEN to EIS, in the amount of $10 million, relating to the license by Targon of Morphelan, is canceled." --------------- >> Did Lgnd get taken by Elan in this deal? << Ligand got a necessary financial shot in the arm from this deal. Elan got what it wanted. The good part for Ligand is the 8% interest rate on the notes, imo. IF Targretin for ABC works out, they can pre-pay in cash, before the 2008 due date. For insight into potential, look at the RxUSA price for Herceptin for ABC. rxusa.com Herceptpin works for only a percentage of people with ABC. Xeloda, another new drug (as of Apr 1998) helps another subset. Targretin could help these and more -- we'll know in a few months.