Aiming, I added another name to my list - Myriad Genetics (MYGN). This looks like a very interesting company. They have a core "predictive medicine"/genetic testing business producing $100 mil/year in revenues and growing fast (predicting the success of various drug treatments based on genetics). They also have a promising drug pipeline, with Flurizan for AD (see below) and prostate cancer. Also some interesting earlier stage programs, and 12 strategic alliances with large pharmas. After a recent stock offering, they have approx $250 mil in cash, no debt, and the above mentioned $100 mil in revenues/year (which grew approx 50% over last year), all for a market cap around $700 mil or so adjusted for the recent 7 mil share offering. Here are some of their recent Flurizan AD results, which if replicated in the current Phase 3 could make it a blockbuster -
>>> Myriad Genetics' Follow-on Study of Flurizan Demonstrates Cognitive Improvement in Alzheimer's Disease
Tuesday November 15, 7:15 am ET
Flurizan Reverses Disease Course and Improves Cognitive Function in Follow-on
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN - News; www.myriad.com) announced today that an analysis of data from its Phase 2 follow-on study of Flurizan(TM) in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease showed that study participants improved as a group, regaining cognitive ability from months 12 through 18. Results of the 6-month follow-on study were presented today at the Neuroscience 2005 meeting in Washington, D.C., by Sandra E. Black, M.D., Professor of Neurology at the University of Toronto and lead investigator in Canada for the Phase 2 trial of Flurizan in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
The Phase 2 trial of Flurizan monitored patients with Alzheimer's disease for a period of 12 months. At the end of the 12-month period, the group of mild patients taking 800 mg twice daily showed an average decline from their baseline score at enrollment of 2.64 points on the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale -- Cognitive Function Subscale (ADAS-cog). In contrast, the placebo group experienced a 3.78 point decline over the same 12 months. In the follow-on to the Phase 2, patients on Flurizan for three additional months regained 0.38 points to 2.27, an improvement of 14 percent, and by 18 months the average ADAS-cog score had further improved to 1.78 points, a total gain in cognition of 0.86 points. These data demonstrate an increase in cognition upon continued treatment that amounted to a 33% improvement over the follow-on period.
"The 18-month follow-on data are striking in that Flurizan-treated patients appear to be regaining cognitive functions like memory and thinking ability that they had previously lost to the disease," said Daniel Christensen, M.D., Clinical Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Utah. "This is a truly exciting finding in the development of a potential future treatment of Alzheimer's disease."
During months zero to 12, mild patients in the 800 mg BID dose group declined by a total of 1.27 points on the test that is considered a global measure of Alzheimer's disease, Clinical Dementia Rating -- Sum of Boxes (CDR-sb), for an average decline of 0.11 points per month. This compares with patients on placebo who declined 2.09 points during this 12-month period, or 0.17 points per month. Over the six-month follow-on period, patients declined 0.05 point per month, or 0.29 points in total. These data indicated an improvement in the rate of decline during the follow-on period to less than half the rate of decline in months 0 to 12. These same patients declined in the follow-on at a rate that was less than one third of the rate seen in the placebo group during the first 12 months.
Tested with the functional measure of Alzheimer's disease, ADCS-ADL (Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study -- Activities of Daily Living), mild patients in the 800 mg BID group demonstrated a 5.4 point decline over 12 months, for a rate of 0.45 points per month. The placebo group declined 8.09 points during the same period, for a rate of 0.67 points per month. During months 12 through 18, the rate of decline in ADCS-ADL among patients on 800 mg twice-daily Flurizan continued at 0.47 points per month, a similarly reduced rate as seen in the first 12 months.
"The follow-on data are very encouraging to our clinical development program with Flurizan in mild Alzheimer's disease," said Adrian Hobden, Ph.D., President of Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "This result is consistent with the compound's mechanism of action. We look forward to completing enrollment in the Phase 3 trial in order to confirm the efficacy of Flurizan in a larger patient population."
About the Phase 2 Follow-on Study of Flurizan
After completion of Myriad's 12-month Phase 2 trial of Flurizan, study participants in Canada were given the option to continue in a follow-on study. A total of 81% of those participants opted to join the follow-on study. Those participants who had previously received placebo during the Phase 2 trial were randomized into the 400 mg BID group or the 800 mg BID group. Participants who were taking Flurizan in the initial Phase 2 trial continued on the same dose that they had been receiving. However, neither patients and their caregivers, nor their doctors, know which arm of the study the patients are in.
About Myriad's Phase 3 Trial of Flurizan in Alzheimer's Disease
Based on the positive Phase 2 results, Myriad is enrolling patients with mild Alzheimer's disease for a Phase 3 trial, at 130 centers across the United States. This enrollment is proceeding on schedule. The Phase 3 trial is a double blind, placebo-controlled trial. Patients will be randomized into one of two treatment arms, receiving either 800 mg of Flurizan or placebo twice daily for the duration of the 12-month trial period. The study is designed to determine Flurizan's ability to reduce the rate of cognitive decline and activities of daily living in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease, as measured by the ADAS-cog test and the change in ADCS-ADL, respectively. Information on participation is available by calling (888) 459-4888 or emailing mjackson@myriad.com .
About Flurizan
Flurizan is the first in a new class of drug candidates known as Selective Amyloid beta-42 Lowering Agents (SALAs). Flurizan lowered levels of Abeta42 in cellular assays and animal models. Abeta42 is the primary constituent of senile plaque that accumulates in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease. It is thought to be the key initiator of Alzheimer's disease, since Abeta42 has the greatest tendency to aggregate, cause neuronal damage and initiate amyloid deposits in the brain. Most genetic mutations that cause early-onset Alzheimer's disease appear to do so by increasing production of Abeta42. Myriad believes that Flurizan is the first well-tolerated drug candidate that inhibits the production of Abeta42 to be evaluated in a clinical trial for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
About Myriad
Myriad Genetics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and marketing of novel healthcare products. The Company develops and markets predictive medicine products, and is developing and intends to market therapeutic products. Myriad's news and other information are available on the Company's Web site at www.myriad.com.
Flurizan is a trademark of Myriad Genetics, Inc. in the United States and other countries. <<<<<
