Ohad Hammer

Curagen: Positive Results at ASCO 2009

Sorry, cannot comment on that.

Bright Prospects for Micromet (Part 2)

You are absolutely right. Should have included that as an option, but I don't think that it's a preferred option for the company.

ohad

'When There's Blood in the Streets', Buy Biotech Stocks

beta delta
I am familiar with the company, but not intimately enough for having an opinion. The idea behind TNFerade is very exciting and has broad applications and the data seems pretty good in pancreatic and H&N cancers. Neverthless, I would be very hesitant in investing in the company before the update in pancreatic cancer, where nothing seems to work.

ohad

'When There's Blood in the Streets', Buy Biotech Stocks

Thanks, KevinMBK.
I don't follow CYPB closely, but I think there is a lot of skepticism towards upcoming phase III results for milnacipran . Their cash position is enviable, no doubt.

Ohad

'When There's Blood in the Streets', Buy Biotech Stocks

Thanks, jturano7423.

I don't think it has a lot to do with guts, but basic common sense ( which seems to be a scarce commodity these days). History shows that people tend to exaggerate to both ways, and what we're witnessing, including today's selloff is merely a result of irrational behavior. Yes, things don't look good at the moment but in my opinion, now is the time to build positions selectively in segments and companies who can weather the storm. I think good biotech companies represent such a tremendous opportunity because their products and technology will always be in demand. Even companies who won't have a commercially available drug in the near future will be able to license drugs and technology to the pharmaceutical giants, who have deep pockets and are starved for new drugs. Remember: There is always a good market for good drugs.
I personally feel much more comfortable buying today, when all the fund managers and investors are dumping everything they have. They were the ones that accumulated all these stocks in the past year or two.

Ohad

'When There's Blood in the Streets', Buy Biotech Stocks

Sorry petpesie, I am not familiar with BioMS. I am sure there are plenty of biotech companies that are suffering as a result of this panic. From what you describe, it is in good position because it has Lilly paying for clinical development, and it doesn't seem that it would stop doing just because there's a recession.

Genentech’s New ADC Platform Has Much Potential, but Is Yet to Be Tested on Humans

They might want to have PFS data from the 100 patient phase II trial before committing more resources. In the meantime, they are making all the necessary arrangements for a pivotal study. The phase II study in Tykerb relapsed patients can be amended into a pivotal trial so the lack of announcement does not delay the commercialization of T-DM1.

Immunogen's Wild Swings Due to Lack of Information at ASCO

No doubt MITI is one of hte most exciting biotechs out there:

www.hammerstockblog.co.../

btw, the dose was 60 micrograms per m2

Immunogen's Wild Swings Due to Lack of Information at ASCO

No doubt MITI is one of the most exciting biotech companies out there.

www.hammerstockblog.co.../


btw, the dose was 60 micrograms per m2

Immunogen and Seattle Genetics: Verging on an Inflection Point

Thanks,

Hopefully next week...

Immunogen and Seattle Genetics: Verging on an Inflection Point

Although IMGN and SGEN are not the only players in the ADC arena, they are the most focused and committed ones. Others such as WYE,IMMU and MEDX are active in the field but none chose to put the pedal to the metal like IMGN and SGEN did.

I don't know a lot about CMC-544's clinical development, as it seems that Wyeth is almost intentionally hiding it. Can you please post links for clinical data?
Ironically, SGEN's naked antibody seems to perform better than both AVE9633 and Mylotarg, so patients will have a drug that is both safe and efficacious. For more on that you can go to my previous SGEN article.

With respect to IMGN's technology, it seems to do the job in the case of T-DM1, which is more impressive than any ADC I am familiar with. Genentech is certainly sold on the technology but what do they know…

Immunogen's Bright Future (Part II)

Hi Gary

You are right, the Antibody -drug link in DM4 conjugates is more sterically hindered than DM1. Both can be used, but the decision to use one or the other should be taken for every case specifically. You are also right about additional toxic molecules like synthetic taxanes and DC's. I may be wrong here but the last immunoconjugate based on DC1 was the anti-B4-DC1, which targets CD19 ( I am not sure if that is the antibody they used in SAR3419...), and that was published in 1995. The reason DC's haven't been mentioned in a while is that DC1, the first generation of DCs had a very poor solubility in water, making development very hard. This problem may be solved in the newer version (DC4) which is much more soluble due to a phosphate group attached to the drug. I haven't heard anything else

About the huC242-DM1 trials, in the first trial, there were two patients with +30% reduction in tumor size and several stable disease cases, but I guess that wasn't enough. Don't forget that eventually most drugs will have to be compared with approved drugs and even if approved, they will face tough competition from existing treatments in the market. In the second phase I trial of huC242-DM1, all responses were among non colorectal cancer patients. Bear in mind in both trials there were over 20 colorectal cancer patients, so it doesn't look too good, but perhaps better screening is the answer.

The My9-6-DM4 story is very intriguing. With the limited data we have, why a company like Sanofi-Aventis would launch 2 clinical trials for this drug is beyond me, but let's hope they have a reason.


Ohad

Immunogen’s Bright Future

hi druggie

There is no doubt T-DM1 is a very promising candidate, and I kinda tohught my article conveyed that message, especially the last sentence.

About the objecitve response rate, there were 15 patients who received 3.6mg/kg and one who received 2.4mg/kg. that's a total of 16. Even according to what you write:
4/10+ 2/6 = 6/16 = 37.5%

I don't understand why you refer me to Genentech's pressentation. I write my personal opinion and the fact that someone else thinks differently doesn't mean I have to think the same way. I think looking at pre-clinical trials is important since it included a comparative analysis between naked trastuzumab and T-DM1. Of course, nobody expects a drug candidate to behave in clinical trials like it behaves in pre-clinical trials, but some of the difference in potency was lost .
Again, there is no doubt T-DM1 is more effective than the naked antibody, I just hoped it would be more potent, that's all.

Best,
Ohad

The "Naked" Truth About Antibodies For Cancer Therapy

Thank you for your great replies. IMGN is shaping up to be a true leader in the immunoconjugate field, but no one knows exactly when this market will kick into gear. I must admit, though, that their Trastuzumab-DM1 results have been far from being impressive imho. They haven't published a scientific article about this trial so perhaps it's too early to comment, but the results look as if it was just another naked antibody, instead of a highly toxic compound (cytotoxicity of maytansine is thought to be 200- to 1000-fold higher than that of other tubulin polymerization drugs like taxol, and its deriviatives, like DM1, are even more toxic). it doesn't imply their technology is inferior, it just means that they'll have to try agian and again until they make it. in drug development statisitics are alway against us, so many agents must be evaluated before finding a truly successful one.

I am planning to write an article about IMGN but for now I am working on several other articles, including a SGEN article which (hopefully) will be published next month.

Ohad