| An SI Board Since March 1998 |
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TTP |
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TITAN PHARMACEUTICALS(TTNP)
As with any biotech company, timing is always important and it will take "events" to drive the stock, either up or down. With TTNP, I could possibly be early, but because of recent "events", I don't think it wise for investors to wait any longer, expecting a better "chance" to get in on the ground floor in this unique biotech company. In the past few weeks, the following "events" have taken place:
...Trading volume has picked up. One day last week, volume exceeded 1 million shares with price increase for the day. Normal trading is around 50,000 shares a day.
...WisdomTree Investment Fund bought a near 7% stake in the company
...Sturza's Medical Investment Letter came out with a strong buy with a one year target price of $15.00. Sturza's letter is one of the most highly respected investment letters for medical related stocks.
...Gerard, Klauer, Mattison issued on 2/25/98 a buy report with a target price of $11.00
Now for Titan's story and it is a good one for such a small biotech company. On January 21, 1998, TTNP released news about a positive prelimiary pilot study with its cell therapy product, SPERAMINE, in a primate model of Parkinson's disease. The study was conducted by a leading academic institution, utilizing a well-established and validated rhesus monkey model of Parkinson's disease. SPERAMINE, restored function in animals that had severe movement impairments. Marked improvement was also shown using standard scale for assessment of Parkinson's disease severity. Improvement was rapidly achieved and maintained after a single treatment. No immunosuppression was required. Efficacy was undiminished at the conclusion of the 8 month experiment, indicating the potential for continued efficacy for substantially longer periods. "The results of this pilot study are quite important," stated Dr. Marvin Jaffe, a member of Titan's Board of Directors and formerly the head of clinical research at Merck & Co., where he directed the development of SINEMAT , the leading treatment for Parkinson's disease.
Now to the more current potential for TTNP's stock. TTNP's lead product is ILOPERIDONE, a proprietary oral antipsychotic drug licensed from Hoechst Marion Roussel, for the treatment of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. ILOPEODONE treats both positive and negative schizophrenic symptoms, and has less side effects as indicate in Phase II trials. They are now moving into PHASE III trials which will last six weeks. These results are expected in the first quarter of 1999 with an FDA approval by mid-1999. Novartis, one of the world's largest drug companies must feel very positive about ILOPERIDONE, as they have signed a deal with TTNP to market the drug worldwide(excluding Japan), with an upfront payment of $23 Million, $15 million in milestone payments with an NDA filing and approval, and then pay TTNP royalty payments probably in the 10% range. Additionally, Novartis has agreed to fund the extensive Phase III trials. The market for such a drug will be in the order of $4 Billion by 2000. TTNP is in Phase II/III with cancer drugs for advanced colon cancers, but I think just with IOPERIDONE and SPERMADINE they have enough potential to get excited over their potential as a major drug company.
In my opinion, TTNP will not be a $5.00 stock for much longer. Let's talk!
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