Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

> HGSI – I don't follow it closely but was surprised to see it in the 1's. This was a 100-dollar stock in the boom days.<

HGSI peaked at $145 split-adjusted in Jul 2000, which means it’s down 99% since then.

>I thought they had some interesting compounds (HCV, Lupus, antibodies)/technology but haven't kept up with them. Anyone follow/own…?<

I’m keeping tabs on the Albuferon program, which has been the subject of several threads on this board that included participation by such luminaries as microcapfun, dewophile, and iwfal.

One such thread was about whether Telaprevir’s FDA label will be restricted to combination use with Pegasys, specifically, or will specify pegylated interferon-alpha in a generic sense in the same way that Avastin’s FDA label in CRC allows use with all “infusional 5FU-based regimens.”

Another Albuferon thread discussed the dosing schedule and yet another compared Albuferon’s phase-2 results to those of Biolex’s Locteron.

>…is it the debt that has killed the stock or clinical development?<

The sorry legacy of founder Bill Haseltine (which is the reason for the current debt load) has been a major factor, IMO: e.g. #msg-2718893, #msg-11887882.

The last time I rendered an opinion on the stock (leaning toward bearishness) was in 2006: #msg-11573957; this post also addresses the issue of bringing an enhanced interferon to the market around the time when the goal in HCV is to get rid of interferon altogether.

In any event, HGSI is sui generis. There’s never been another biotech company quite like it and there probably never will be.