Many terms can be used to describe Immunogen’s (IMGN) recent stock behavior, but it seems the word “schizophrenic” is the most suitable one. Immunogen gained almost 50%  in the three weeks prior to the ASCO annual meeting, just to give it all back in the 8 trading sessions following the conference, thus it is clear that the rollercoaster in the company’s share price had a lot to do with what was (or was not) presented at the conference. Immunogen is involved in multiple clinical programs, but for the past year the vast majority of the attention it has received was directed at T-DM1, which is being developed by Genentech (DNA) based on Immunogen’s technology. T-DM1 is garnering more attention than all the rest of Immoungen’s programs combined because it has all the necessary ingredients for the ultimate biotech story: Huge addressable market, a strong partner, impressive (yet preliminary) clinical activity and an opportunity to validate a disruptive technology. Accordingly, it is only reasonable to expect Immunogen to be traded in tandem with T-DM1’s development.

Wild swings in biotech stocks are commonly an outcome of clinical results publication, and indeed, the presented data at ASCO could be partially blamed for the violent market reaction. Nevertheless, in this particular case, Immunogen was affected from a lack of positive news rather than the release of negative news. Genentech had previously stated it would decide whether to advance T-DM1 into a registration trial during 2008, based on an ongoing phase II trial. This led many to believe that Genentech would use the ASCO platform to announce its intention to commence a phase III trial already this year. In the last day of the conference, when the market realized Genentech was not going to give the dramatic announcement nor was it going to release data from the ongoing phase II trial during the conference, the reaction was brutal.

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This article will discuss the development of Poniard’s lead drug, picoplatin, for the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC). A General introduction for picoplatin can be found in the first part of this article.

As a novel platinum compound, picoplatin seems to be the ultimate “platform” product, with potential application in multiple indications, including some of the most lucrative oncology markets. Nevertheless, the only chance Poniard has to generate sales from this product in the next 4-5 years lies in a relatively modest indication - Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC).

SCLC accounts for 13%-15% of all lung cancer diagnosed in the US (32,000 cases in 2007). When diagnosed early, the disease is curable with surgery in some patients, however, in most cases, patients either develop recurrent disease or are diagnosed at an advanced stage. The common treatment for SCLC is a platinum-containing chemotherapy regimen, which typically leads to a very high response rate, however, the vast majority of patients eventually relapse, thus creating a second line market of around 70 thousand patients in developed nations. Although this market represents a rather small market for picoplatin, it can certainly be viewed as the most underserved one.

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In an industry where most companies over-promise and under-deliver, a company that exceeds even the most optimistic expectations is a unique phenomenon. This morning, while most eyes were still turned towards Chicago following ASCO, Micromet (MITI) managed to present another impressive set of clinical data in the picturesque town of Lugano, Switzerland. The data is from an ongoing phase I trial for the evaluation of the company’s lead product, MT103, in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL), a trial which had already produced impressive results.

Although the actual scientific poster is not yet publically available, according to the company’s recent press release, MT103 led to an impressive clinical response among 7 heavily pre-treated NHL patients. When given MT103 at the highest dose so far in the trial, all 7 patients achieved a significant reduction in tumor burden in the form of either a complete or partial response. Importantly, those responses are durable and are currently ongoing in all seven patients, with the longest remission ongoing for more than one year.

Evidently, the data is still very preliminary, as it is being derived from a small non-controlled phase I trial. Nevertheless, having 100% clinical activity with such durability in such a late-stage patient population bodes extremely well for the prospects of MT-103. More importantly, this is yet another validation of Micromet’s revolutionary BiTE platform, which can be utilized to develop an unlimited number of drug candidates for various cancer types.

Author is long MITI

So far, 2008 has been particularly fertile, with several exciting events taking place during recent months. (more…)

Forty years after the accidental discovery of their anti-cancer properties, platinum based compounds represent one of the most important classes of oncology drugs. Platinum compounds are effective in treating a wide array of malignancies including lung, ovarian and colorectal cancers. Cisplatin was the first approved platinum drug (1978) followed by carboplatin (1989) and oxaliplatin (2002), which together generated annual worldwide sales of approximately $3 billion in 2007. These drugs exert their antitumor activity by binding to DNA and interfering with DNA replication, ultimately leading to cell death.

Despite their impressive activity, platinum drugs suffer from two primary drawbacks. The first drawback is the appearance of undesirable side effects and toxicities. Cisplatin often leads to kidney toxicity, while carboplatin and oxaliplatin often lead to bone marrow and nerve toxicities. The most urgent safety issue is the nerve toxicity caused by the use of oxaliplatin in colorectal cancer, as it sometimes forces physicians to stop the administration of the drug. The second drawback of platinum compounds is the emergence of platinum resistance in most patients during or following treatment. These patients stop responding to treatment after an initial response within several months of initial treatment. Moreover, some cancers are inherently resistant to platinum even before being exposed to platinum drugs. Fortunately, many resistance mechanisms tumors utilize to block the anti-cancer effect of platinum drugs have now been elucidated, and this knowledge will hopefully provide the basis for the development of the next generation of platinum drugs.

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