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Biotech / Medical : SUNPHARM Pharmaceuticals (SUNP) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Graham Marshman who wrote (40)	4/14/1999 9:39:00 PM
From: JMarcus	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 52

Graham, you forgot to mention DENSPM's potential as a cure for AIDS, with a Phase I trial scheduled to start this year. I quote from the 10K issued on March 31st: 'The Company has funded research at the University of Florida to investigate several proprietary analogue compounds that may alter eIF-5A in such a way as to inhibit its combination with the rev gene product or the ability of the combination to bind to the viral genetic message. One such compound is DENSPM, which has been shown to remove the substrate needed in an enzymatic reaction that converts a lysine residue on eIF-5A to hypusine. Accordingly, the Company believes that a reduction in hypusine will correlate with a reduction in viral load and is planning to test this hypothesis in a pilot clinical trial before the end of 1999. By using DENSPM to disrupt this important phase of the viral life-cycle, the Company believes HIV cannot proliferate and infect new lymphocytes. Although the HIV virus has a tremendous ability to mutate, this approach may represent an "Achilles heel" in the virus' life cycle where mutation plays a less important role and may therefore lead to new drugs for the treatment of AIDS.' What would be the market size for such a treatment? SUNP is participating in yet another Informed Investors presentation on May 8th. Paul Heron had been reluctant to say much DENSPM as a potential cure for AIDS until after the 10K and its update were released. My guess is that whoever presents on May 8th will be sharing more of the excitement about the upcoming clinical trial of DENSPM for this indication. Off topic, I read Her 2 (about the development of Genentech's Herceptin drug) during my recent vacation. Reads like a novel. www.biospace.com was promoting it. Glad I bit on their add. Marc