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Biotech / Medical : T/FIF Portfolio -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JOEBT1 who wrote (610)	2/20/1999 4:12:00 PM
From: scaram(o)uche	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1073

>> I agree the deal isn't super but for a drug that hasn't been in human trials you got to admit it's pretty good. << No I don't! The deal stinks. This was the "big deal" that Mitch promised all that time? The xenograft data was published mid-1996. That means that the data has been in-hand for three years. After three years, when the company is threatened with bankruptcy, he comes up with a million upfront? This is obviously a panic deal to get some funding, any funding, when the company was down to about 1-2 quarters of burn. Looks like it was designed to help get some investors out on the day of the announcement..... if the puny upfront had been included in the release, I do not believe that you would have seen the spike to $3/share..... or any spike at all, for that matter. And SmithKline gets to walk with rights for peanuts. Other than that, your post is great. Thanks very much for the effort. Now, where are the IMGN publications to back up the statements? I asked Mitch to show mouse hyperimmunization data for DM1 conjugated to a mouse antibody about 22 months ago. Given his statements at the time, one would assume that he had the data in hand previous to that. So..... two years..... where is the publication? IMGN came up with a zero publications in 1998. Non-immunogenic after how many immunizations and using which assays (for both DM1-conjugated murine antibodies in mice and DM1-conjugated humanized antibodies in monkeys)? Eradicating a well-vascularized 100 mm3 tumor in mice is a first step. That's less than 1/2 inch in diameter, however..... wouldn't even be detected in a human except for luck. My statement therefore stands...... getting a MAb to cells of a solid tumor can be problematic. >> C242 does have a specific antigenic site for these cancer cells << The antibody was described over 10 years ago. It has been studied by a number of investigators, including those who have coupled it to radioactive iodine and a variety of toxins. It has also served as the "donor" for Fab conjugation to try to avoid issues with the bulk of antibody molecules and access to solid tumors. I follow the work closely, and I would LOVE to see IMGN succeed. However, this is the company that kept ricin conjugates in front of the noses of investors long after they were, IMO, dead in the water. Therefore, the simple statements that Mitch makes are insufficient. Where are the publications? Better yet, where is a respect-worthy upfront? >> The half-life in primates for C242-DM1 was sufficient for C242-DM1 to work.(no cancer was induced in primates--just a safety test--no ill effects in primates). << Great! What was that half-life? Where can I find it published? Was it the same after the tenth administration as it was after the first? How much time elapsed between dosing (or, until Mitch shows me data otherwise, I'll use the expression "between immunizations")? Why did it take him two years to answer a simple question, and why is he answering it without any published data, after two years, to back him up? Sorry to sound so angry, but I had assumed that the upfront was probably in the vicinity of $5 million, and even then I thought that it would have stunk. At $1 million, they don't even get a quarter of burn, and that means, unless Mitch has another DM1 deal ready to go now, that they'll start to sell that $5 million in shares to SmithKline almost immediately. That's spelled D-I-L-U-T-I-O-N. >> Relative to humanization IMGN asked another company to humanize C242 and the molecule produced was identical to the molecule produced by IMGN's humanization process. << That's very good news. Was the other company one that is known for a reliable, independent humanization process? Thanks, Joe. You're refusing, IMO, to look at what a two year wait and an upfront of one quarter's burn should be telling you about Dr. Sayare. I repeat.... this is the company that kept ricin conjugates in front of the noses of investors long after they were, IMO, dead in the water.