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Biotech / Medical : Neurobiological Tech (NTII) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Craig S. Owens who wrote (467)	3/28/1999 6:44:00 PM
From: Dr. John M. de Castro	Respond to of 1494

The $1+ million Private placement should easilly keep them going for another 6 months. It should last, as Freiman has the burn rate down to miniscule levels. He has focused the company almost completely on memantine development. He said that when he took over, NTII had a number of programs that were not interconnected. He cut out some programs (Dynorphin) and focused the company on late stage product development. He cut personnel and got the burn rate down to the absolute minimum. He now has a very lean and focused company. The pre-Freiman failures (eg CRF for arthritis) and bumbling at NTII resulted in an erosion in stock value and investor confidence which culminated in delisting. This has made for a very difficult financial situation. It is a very tough sell, to convince an investor to pour money into a bulletin board stock. It is a testament to Freiman's connections and persuasive ability that he has been able to convince investors to go for a private placement last year and then again this year. He has done so with a minimum of dillution. As a result, although the share value is low, the IMHO the value of the company is high and the float small. That means to me that when things begin to break, NTII stock will rise very quickly. In reference to a takeover, I think it is unlikely. Rumor has it that Freiman already turned down an offer that was nearly a 200% premium. When I talked to him, he was talking about NTII as a major cash cow, with royalties pouring in producing an amazing PE. With less than 10 million shares outstanding and a substantial royalty share of a potential blockbuster drug, the numbers suggest that future NTII stock value could bring a smile to all our faces. John de C

To: Craig S. Owens who wrote (467)	3/29/1999 8:23:00 AM
From: Dr. John M. de Castro	Respond to of 1494

Memantine - a potential blockbuster drug - I Memantine is an NMDA receptor antagonist. NTII licensed it from the Children's Medical Center Corp and has subsequently transferred the liscense to the Merz Co. Memantine is being developed for the prevention of NMDA receptor mediated neuronal damage and the treatment of "certain" neurodegenerative diseases and neuropathic pain. It has long been known that the NMDA - glutamate receptor, when overstimulated, can lead to cell death. Hence, inhibition of this receptor is neuroprotective and decreases the neuronal damage consequent upon tumors, strokes, closed head injuries, etc. A number of companies have tried developing NMDA receptor antagonists for these indications. Many have failed, primarily because of safety reasons. Blocking NMDA receptors can produce adverse side effects. What would appear to give NTII a huge edge is that Memantine has an established track record for safety and effectiveness in the treatment of Parkinsons disease. It has been employed in Germany for this indication since 1982. Some of the reasons why Memantine appears to have superior characteristics are that: 1) It is that it is effective with oral administration. 2) It is a non-competitive antagonist. As such, it does not disrupt the normal activity of these synapses, and thus is less likely to produce deleterious side effects such as cognitive and memory impairments. 3) It is an open channel blocker and the antagonist can only gain access to the channel when it is open. Hence, it is increasingly effective against escalating levels of glutamate, exactly the time when neurotoxicity occurs. 4) It has fast kinetics, with fast blocking and unblocking rates at low molecular concentrations. Some open channel NMDA antagonists that have much slower kinetics have untoward neuropsychiatric side effects. An example is phencyclidine which is also known as "angel dust". More later John de C