Biotech Values

[HobGlobulin]

>Do you have any opinion on MK-7009?

No, which is no tragedy for society. A December 2006 Isis Pharmaceuticals PR caused MK-7009 to dog paddle into my purview:

http://ir.isispharm.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=222617

>> Isis Receives $1 Million Milestone Payment From Merck on Initiation of Clinical Development of a Compound Discovered in a Collaboration Between the Companies

CARLSBAD, Calif., Dec. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIS) announced today that Merck & Co., Inc. has initiated clinical development of a compound that was discovered as part of a funded research collaboration between Merck and Isis scientists. Merck will pay Isis a $1 million milestone payment based on the initiation of clinical trials.

Isis' Senior Vice President of Research, C. Frank Bennett, Ph.D., commented, "We're pleased to see Merck advancing this molecule in clinical trials. The compound was created out of our productive collaboration which took advantage of Isis' expertise in nucleic acid therapeutics. We look forward to Merck's future progress with this compound." <<


This was an unusually uninformative communique due, undoubtedly, to Merckian influence. Speculation was that the partnered drug was MK-7009, but it turns out MK-0608, a nucleoside polymerase inhibitor, is the collaborative compound.
I have no idea regarding its chances of success.

Hob