Company** Product Description Indication Status (Date) CANCER Antisoma plc (U.K.; EASDAQ: ASOM) Theragyn Murine monoclonal antibody HMFG1, linked to yttrium-90 Adjuvant treatment of ovarian cancer Updated Phase II trial at the 46th Annual Meeting of the U.S. Society of Nuclear Medicine in Los Angeles (6/9) Atrix Laboratories Inc. Atrigel formulation of leuprolide acetate; drug is delivered via biodegradable polymeric sustained-release formulation Prostate
By Nancy Volkers Special To BioWorld Financial Watch More than 16 million Americans have diabetes; about a third of them don't know they have it. Most people with diabetes have Type 2, or non-insulin-dependent diabetes, which usually starts in adulthood. Type 1, insulin-dependent diabetes, is an autoimmune disease diagnosed in childhood and requiring lifelong treatment. The prevalence of diabetes has increased six-fold in the past 30 years. According to the Pharmaceutical Research and
I. FINANCING OF PRIVATE BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPANIES: $83.8M Company Location Date Amt. (M) Details Calydon Inc. (mezzanine) Sunnyvale, Calif. 6/10 $10.1 Barr Rosenberg of AXA Rosenberg Group was the lead investor in this private round, which also included current investor Sequoia Capital and other private investors IsoTis BV (Round ND) Bilthoven, the Netherlands 6/21 Euro18.2 (US$18.8) Private placement was managed by ABN AMRO Corporate Finance and attracted
Company (Symbol) Type Of Financing Number Of Shares, Units Or Warrants (M) Amount Raised ($M) Investors; Placement Agents; Details (Date) Aastrom Biosciences Inc. (ASTM) Convertible preferred stock and warrants 3,000 preferred shares; warrants for 0.3M shares of common stock $3 Placement consists of $3M worth of 1999 Series III convertible preferred stock, yielding 5.5%; conversions are based on 0% to 6% discount to market price of Aastrom common stock; maximum conversion
I. COMMENCED TRADING IN JUNE Company (Symbol) Date Filed Date Comm. Shares/ Units (M) Price Shares Out (M) Lead, Other Underwriters Gross ($M) Net ($M) INITIAL OFFERINGS VaxGen Inc. (VXGN) 5/7 6/30 3.1S $13 10.8 Prudential Securities; Punk, Ziegel & Co. $40.3 $37.5E FOLLOW-ON OFFERINGS Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. (ALLP) 4/15 6/11 9.5 $2.45 33.2 Cruttendon Roth Inc. $23.275 $22.1E TOTAL: $63.6M II. FILED AND PENDING
By Lisa Seachrist Washington Editor June ordinarily rings in the dog days of summer for the biotechnology markets, but several financings completed last month may indicate that, instead, the summer is just beginning to heat up. The capital markets, which have been extremely tight for the past year, appear to be looking more favorably on the biotech industry based on a few interesting offerings: Human Genome Sciences Inc. (HGS) completed a convertible note financing worth $100 million
Company University/Non-Profit [Scientist] Type of Agreement Product Area Details (Month) Affymetrix Inc. National Cancer Institute Technology access Affymetrix GeneChip technology Agreement allows biomedical research community broad access to Affymetrix's GeneChip probe array technology; volume price discounts are available, with specific terms to be negotiated directly with Affymetrix by each institution; terms designed to not interfere with traditions of publishing and
By Nancy Volkers Special To BioWorld Financial Watch Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability in industrialized countries. In the U.S., about 59 million people have one or more types of cardiovascular disease, an umbrella term that includes high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, rheumatic fever, congenital defects and congestive heart failure. This year, the cost of CVD in the United States is pegged at $286.5 billion; this figure includes health
Company** Product Description Indication Action/Date CANCER Avigen Inc. Coagulin B Adeno-associated virus used to deliver Factor IX clotting gene Hemophilia B FDA approved IND (5/24) Crescendo Pharmaceuticals Corp. and Alza Corp. Viadur (a.k.a. DUROS leuprolide) Leuprolide acetate implant; drug-filled, miniature titanium implant that continuously delivers leuprolide for a full year Palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer Submitted NDA (5/26
By Nancy Volkers Special To BioWorld Financial Watch There are more than 190 of them, and some of their names sound familiar: Neupogen, Pulmozyme, hydroxyurea. Others are not so familiar: Chenix, Atnativ, Albenza. All are orphan drugs, treatments for rare diseases, approved under the Orphan Drug Act of 1983. The act defines a rare disease as one that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the country. According to the National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD), more than 5,000 such
CANCER Company Product Description Indication Status/Date Altarex Corp*(Canada) OvaRex Mab Anti-idiotype induction therapy-based vaccine; consists of modified murine monoclonal antibody that binds to CA125 cancer antigen Ovarian cancer Presented further scientific analysis of data associated with retrospective clinical results for an earlier formulation at American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Atlanta (5/18) Antigenics LLC* HSPPC-96 Heat shock protein peptide
By Nancy Volkers Special To BioWorld Financial Watch As the first five months of 1999 came to a close, the biotechnology industry found itself with more products in clinical trials than ever before. Two of the many clinical trials begun recently involve antisense technology. Last month, Genta Inc., of Lexington, Mass., started a Phase I/IIa study of its lead compound, GS3139, which acts on production of the bcl-2 protein. Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., began Phase II
By Nancy Volkers Special To BioWorld Financial Watch The outlook for financings is expected - at least in some quarters - to brighten at least a bit this year, and already there has been evidence of some upswing. Ernst & Young LLP, in its 1999 report on the financial markets, said small-cap and mid-cap equities are likely to outperform large-cap equities on every horizon. Ernst & Young projects five-year annualized returns of 10.8 percent for small-cap equities, 9.7 percent for mid-cap, and 7
I. COMMENCED TRADING IN MAY Company (Symbol) Date Filed Date Comm. Shares/Units (M) Price Shares Out (M) Lead, Other Underwriters Gross ($M) Net ($M) INITIAL OFFERINGS No initial public offerings were completed in May. FOLLOW-ON OFFERINGS AltaRex Corp. (TSE:AXO) 4/27 5/7 28.5S C$0.50 45.0 First Marathon Securities Ltd.; HSBC James Capel Canada Inc. C$19.6 (US$13.3)* C$18.62E SYNSORB Biotech Inc. (SYBB; TSE:SYB) 3/23 5/13 9S $1.75 29.9
Company (Symbol) Type Of Financing Number Of Shares, Units Or Warrants (M) Amount Raised ($M) Investors; Placement Agents; Details (Date) Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN) Sale of division $2.6 Amylin sold its Cabrillo Laboratories division to Magellan Laboratories Inc. for a cash payment of $2.1M and a $0.5M credit for future laboratory services (5/4) Avigen Inc. (AVGN) Private placement of common stock and warrants 2.2S; 0.44W $13.1 Avigen completed a
Company Product Description Development Status Aeterna Laboratories Inc. (MSE, TSE:AEL) Neovastat (AE941) Shark cartilage extract with anti-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory activities NCI-sponsored Phase III slated to begin Fall 1999 (non-small-cell lung cancer) AnorMED Inc. (TSE:AOM) Lambda Lanthanum carbonate; oral drug designed to bind phosphate in the gut In Phase III trials in dialysis patients Allelix Biopharmaceuticals Corp. (MSE, TSE:AXB) ALX1-11 Recombinant human
By Nancy Volkers Special To BioWorld Financial Watch Think canola. Think lamivudine. Think Canada. Though the country may be better known for its agricultural biotechnology, Canada also makes noise when it comes to drugs and biologics. And the noise is only getting louder. Five years ago, the Industrial Biotechnology Association of Canada estimated that about 120 biotech companies called Canada home, and those companies had sales of C$550 million (US$373 million). By 1997, the number of
Company** Product Description Indication Status (Date) CANCER Antisoma plc (U.K.; EASDAQ: ASOM) Theragyn Murine monoclonal antibody HMFG1, linked to yttrium-90 Adjuvant treatment of ovarian cancer Updated Phase II trial at the 46th Annual Meeting of the U.S. Society of Nuclear Medicine in Los Angeles (6/9) Atrix Laboratories Inc. Atrigel formulation of leuprolide acetate; drug is delivered via biodegradable polymeric sustained-release formulation Prostate