Wall Street Teacher's  Instablog

In my last article, (link below) I pondered what was next for Ziopharm (ZIOP). In early Sept. the company completed a small PIPE for apprx $5MM plus warrants for a like amount. I believe they were trying to put enough gas in the tank to safely make it to the next leg of the race.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/153582-ziopharm-oncology-deal-or-dilution


The next leg may be upon them. On Friday, the company reported some very encouraging randomized Phase II data on its Sarcoma drug , palifosfamide (ZIO-201).The data was presented at the annual meeting of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) in Miami Beach.


While Ziopharm has yet to land a partner for any of its  programs,that may soon change. Speaking from the conference, CEO Dr. Jonathan Lewis,  cited "many considerations and options" for partnering. "The ideal thing would be to do a regional deal in Europe first, with someone who's very good at manufacturing, retaining rights in the U.S. and then go from there," he told BioWorld Today. "The clinical-development part we're quite good at." (full text below)

http://www.bioworld.com/servlet/com.accumedia.web.Dispatcher?next=bioWorldHeadlines_article&forceid=52650


Many experts in the field believe that  palifosfamide holds promise.   

George Demetri, director of Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology and Ludwig Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, said: “These interim results are very promising, indicating a potentially new drug to help control this life-threatening disease with acceptable safety and quality of life.”

Lawrence Einhorn, professor at Simon Cancer Center of Indiana University Medical Center, said: “These data are not only encouraging for sarcoma but hopefully palifosfamide may also work in treating other cancers. This is particularly interesting if the oral form is successful in the clinic.”

My bull thesis on Ziopharm remains intact. The company has 2 mid-stage drugs and one early stage compound and a market cap of just $75MM. Darinaparsin (ZIO-101) the other mid-stage drug was given much attention at ASCO this June.
I believe it likely that Ziopharm will be able to partner one(or both) of its mid-stage programs short term. This will hopefully strengthen the company's balance sheet and  cause a few more Wall Street analysts to take a serious look at this interesting micro-cap play. 

Disclosure---Long ZIOP  

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/health/research/03trials.html?_r=1

                    This brief is a follow up to my Nov. 17, 2008 article  Ziopharm Oncology: Thinking Small http://seekingalpha.com/article/106324-ziopharm-oncology-thinking-small. The company’s goal is to eventually develop oral formulations of its compounds which could be delivered in a cost efficient and convenient manner.  Let’s do a quick review of the company’s three drug candidates (see website for more complete descriptions http://www.ziopharm.com/

  I.   Darinaparsin (ZIO-101 or Zinapar® ) is a novel organic arsenic being  developed for the treatment of various hematologic and solid cancers. Darinaparsin is being developed with the goal of avoiding toxic side effects and potentially expanding the application of this class of agents to a wide array of cancer indications. A Phase II trial is ongoing in patients with lymphomas, and a Phase I oral trial is in progress. 

II.  Palifosfamide (ZIO-201 or Zymafos® ) is a proprietary stabilized formulation  of isophosphoramide  mustard (IPM), the active metabolite of ifosfamide. Ifosfamide is an alkylating drug used to treat diverse cancers including testicular cancer, sarcoma, and lymphoma. Palifosfamide delivers only the cancer fighting component of ifosfamide without the two toxic metabolites of the parent drug that cause the debilitating side effects of “fuzzy brain” (encephalopathy) and severe bladder toxicity.  

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