LGND ($2.40)..Collaboration Is The Name of The Game Wednesday, 09 September 2009 00:00
What a line up. Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Schering-Plough, Pfizer, Wyeth, Celgene, Cephalon and King. With nine pharmaceutical agreements and more than 20 molecules in various stages of development Ligand epitomizes the term "Multiple Shots on Goal".
With all these catalysts I am looking for shares of Ligand to move back to 2007 levels in the very near future.
Let's take a closer look at what is going on:
PROMACTA for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) was approved by the FDA in December 2008. An achievement of a dozen years cooperative research with GSK and the first oral receptor agonist therapy for the treatment of adult patients with chronic ITP.
In addition, GlaxoSmithKline has initiated two Phase III trials in patients with hepatitas C in the fourth quarter of 2007 and a Phase III trial in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) in early 2008. According to the FDA clinical trial calendar both trials are expected to be finished in the middle of 2010.
LGD-4665. In December 2008 GSK was also given the exclusive worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialize this as well as all other TPO related molecules discovered by Ligand.
VIVIANT (Bazedoxifene) and APRELA (Bazedoxifene in combination with PREMARIN) in collaboration with Wyeth is expecting an NDA filing in mid 2010.
FABLYN (Lasofoxifene) in collaboration with Pfizer is already under FDA review. The FDA Panel had a positive vote (9-3) on September 8, 2008 that benefits could outweigh its risks, including blood clots and vaginal bleeding for the osteoporosis treatment indication for FABLYN. FABLYN tablets have already received approval in March 2009 from the European Commission (EC) for the treatment of osteoporosis in post-menopausal women at increased risk of fracture.
AVINZA was sold to King Pharmaceuticals in 2007. Ligand has the right to future royalties on the net sales of AVINZA through 2017.
See the diagram below for details on Ligands partnerships and associated royalties:
And it doesn't end there. Ligand also has a stock pile of its own research and development projects.
DARA (PS433540) is Ligand's leading independent program. In February 2009, Ligand announced positive preliminary results from the Phase IIb study for PS433540, the first-in-class Dual Acting Receptor Agonist (DARA) that targets the angiotensin and endothelin receptors. In May 2009, Ligand presented DARA Phase IIb results at the American Society of Hypertension Annual Meeting. Both the 400 mg and 800 mg doses of DARA produced statistically significant better blood pressure control than irbesartan, a current standard of care.
The 261-patient, randomized, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled study evaluated safety and efficacy at three different doses in subjects with Stage 1 and Stage 2 hypertension over 12 weeks of treatment. PS433540 was found to be safe and well tolerated and demonstrated statistically significant greater reductions in blood pressure than placebo. The high dose of PS433540 produced a statistically significantly greater reduction in blood pressure than the active comparator, irbesartan which was tested at its highest approved dose.
In addition to DARA, Ligand also has two other programs in Clinical Phases, SARM and EPO, and three others in the research phase.
Keep an eye on shares of Ligand today as their President and CEO, John L. Higgins, will be presenting at the Thomas Weisel Partners Healthcare Conference in Boston. The presentation can be seen live via webcast at 9AM EST at the following link: http://investors.ligand.com/eventdetail.cfm?EventID=72028.
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