RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc (RSPI)

[K-G]

Wow! This may be another symptom of a dearth of high volume, high $ drugs in development across the industry.

http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=health&storyID=nL19200238&WTmodLoc=H...

UPDATE 4-Glaxo signs record $2.1 bln deal for Genmab drug
Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:38am ET

By Ben Hirschler, European Pharmaceuticals Correspondent

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has bought global rights to Danish biotech company Genmab's (GEN.CO: Quote, Profile, Research) most promising new drug, a treatment for leukaemia, in a record deal worth up to $2.1 billion, the two firms said on Tuesday.

The agreement is the biggest ever clinched by a biotech company, eclipsing a $2-billion alliance between ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY.N: Quote, Profile, Research) that was revised down in 2002 when ImClone's drug Erbitux hit snags.

Genmab shares surged as much as 24 percent to a new all-time high of 424 Danish crowns before ending up 11 percent at 380, valuing the business, which has yet to make a profit, at around $2.7 billion.

The deal is the latest in a string of product acquisitions by large pharmaceutical firms eager to tap biotech know-how to boost their drug pipelines, and the price paid -- higher than analysts had expected -- reflects the fierce competition for late-stage assets.

It covers HuMax-CD20, an experimental human antibody in late-stage development for CD20 positive B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The drug, which is also in Phase II trials for rheumatoid arthritis, is similar to MabThera/Rituxan from Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) and Genentech Inc. (DNA.N: Quote, Profile, Research). Continued...