Immunogen - What really happened with T-DM1’s filing?

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010


Last week, Roche announced that the FDA was unwilling to accept T-DM1’s accelerated approval filing for breast cancer, sending Immunogen’s (IMGN) shares tumbling almost 40%. The filing was based on impressive results from a single arm phase II trial in 3rd line HER2 breast cancer. Typically, gaining regulatory approval requires a large, randomized phase III study but in cases of highly unmet need where patients are bereft of effective treatment options, the FDA may consider approval in a limited patient population.

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Synta is heating up

Sunday, August 8th, 2010


Synta (SNTA) is recuperating nicely from last year’s meltdown following the failure of its melanoma drug, elesclomol. The company is gaining momentum thanks to its early stage Hsp90 (heat shock protein 90) inhibitor, STA-9090. STA-9090 seems to garner a lot of attention in the medical community following the presentation of encouraging phase I data at ASCO last June. Based on the preliminary results, STA-9090 could be what the industry has been waiting for: An broad and potent Hsp90 with an acceptable safety profile.

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Exelixis – What’s Next?

Sunday, July 25th, 2010


Exelixis (EXEL) came under a lot of pressure recently and the stock is now trading near its 52 week low following two unrelated events that took place last month. In late June, the company announced the resignation of its CEO, George Scangos, who was appointed as Biogen Idec’s (BIIB) CEO. Earlier that month, the company announced BMS (BMY) decided to give back rights for Exelixis’ flagship product, XL184. Adding to the pressure are interesting but not stellar clinical results for some of the company’s compounds at ASCO and potentially an additional partnership termination. (more…)

The winner of ASCO 2010 - BMS

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

The hottest theme at this year’s 2010 ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) annual meeting was without a doubt cancer immunotherapy, an old paradigm that deals with redirecting the patient’s immune system against tumors. After decades of failures, this concept is finally proving itself useful. There are basically two approaches:  1) cancer vaccines that aim at eliciting an immune response against specific targets on cancer cells and 2) immunomodulatory drugs that aim at stimulating the immune system in a more general manner (not target specific). The undisputed leader in cancer vaccines is Dendreon (DNDN), which currently has the only FDA approved cancer vaccine. Following ASCO, it looks like the leader in immunomodulation drugs is BMS (BMY).

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A Busy Month for Immunogen (Part II)

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009


For part I click here

 

At ASH 2009, Immunogen (IMGN) and its partners will present clinical data on three compounds: Sanofi-Aventis’ (SNY) SAR3419, Immunogen’s IMGN901 and Biotest’s BT-062.

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The Clock is Ticking on Micromet

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Earlier this month, Micromet (MITI) concluded an impressive public offering of $75M, approximately 20% of the company’s market cap. The offering illustrates the transformation the company has undergone from an anonymous biotech play into a recognized industry leader. This is also echoed by the growing attention from Wall St. When I first wrote about Micromet in 2007, the company was covered by a single analyst, RBC’s Jason Kantor, who was one of the first to see the potential in Micromet’s platform. Today the stock is covered by six additional research analysts.  

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Immunogen and Exelixis Defy the Myth of Recession

Saturday, December 20th, 2008


 

In a time when so many biotech companies do not know how they will survive the nuclear winter of 2009, two companies we hold in the biotech portfolio, stand out in the crowd. Immunogen (IMGN) and Exelixis (EXEL) are poised for an exciting year, with plenty of events in the coming twelve months. The two companies have a lot in common: Both are developing innovative  drugs for cancer that rely on remarkable basic science, both can generate an unlimited number of novel agents, that in turn can be licensed to large partners, and perhaps more importantly these days, both can remain independent of the capital markets for at least two years. Above all, the two companies exemplify how good products and good technologies can still generate tremendous value for investors, even during these economic turbulent times. 

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