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Biotech / Medical : VVUS: VIVUS INC. (NASDAQ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John M. Gelnieau who wrote (18959)	2/20/1999 12:08:00 AM
From: AlienTech	Respond to of 23519

>>My last post tonight. The SI board is really slow.<< Another one to keep track off with yahoo and the fool. ragingbull.com

To: John M. Gelnieau who wrote (18959)	2/20/1999 2:30:00 AM
From: VLAD	Respond to of 23519

John, I do not know exactly how much cash Vivus needs to continue needed R&D beyond Alibra phase III clinical trials and Dr. Christ's work but we know it is at least $2M. SG&A should be under $2M. So Vivus' quarterly expenses should now be at or below $4M based on last quarter's numbers. I know that cash is a concern as long as a domestic partner is not signed. I hope that the Vivus board will be shrewd enough to buy back shares without an announcement if and when they know a domestic partner will be signed. IMO, the only way Vivus will be able to effectively neutralize the manipulation of the stock is to decrease the float as much as possible. It is a disgrace to Vivus management and us shareholders to know that we paid an average of over $16.00 per share in the 2 million share buy back executed in 1997 and Q1 1998. I was told long ago by NF that Vivus was going to do some type of marketing/ED education directed to the retiree populations but I am unaware of any specific actions they have taken. I think that currently the 2 best ideas is to target the PCPs with a mailer and advertising in the popular medical journals and to target the over 55 crowd via advertising in magazines read by this group (eg Reader's Digest, Golfing Magazines etc.). Some internet marketing to both these groups would also be a good idea. I think Vivus could cover all these facets with a limited budget. If a DP is just around the corner then they would be wise to hold off on any further spending. It would be interesting to know exactly what Vivus' interim marketing plan is if they do not believe they will be signing a partner in the very near future.