From: lexi2004 6/11/2010 10:25:15 AM
of 205255
AGEN moving up. @ .9089 Volume 257K
Antigenics Inc., a biotechnology company, develops and commercializes technologies to treat cancers and infectious diseases primarily based on immunological approaches. The company?s product includes Oncophage, a patient-specific therapeutic cancer vaccine tested in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma and metastatic melanoma, as well as in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of glioma. Its product candidate portfolio also includes QS-21 Stimulon adjuvant, which is in Phase III third-party clinical trials for various diseases, including hepatitis, human immunodeficiency virus, influenza, cancer, Alzheimer?s disease, malaria, and tuberculosis; AG-707, a therapeutic vaccine program tested in a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of genital herpes; and Aroplatin, a liposomal chemotherapeutic tested in a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of solid malignancies and B-cell lymphomas. The company was formerly known as Antigenics L.L.C. and changed its name to Antigenics Inc. in February 2000. Antigenics Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts.
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Antigenics Sees Encouraging Results; Good Long Term Pick
4 comments | by: VFC's Stock House May 26, 2010 | about: AGEN
It's been a long road for Antigenics (AGEN) since announcing that Russia had approved Oncophage for the treatment of kidney cancer in April of 2008, based on a subset of patients from a Phase III trial. Although the trial results were not thought to be encouraging enough to be brought before the US FDA, Antigenics applied for approval in Europe based on the same subset data that convinced Russia to approve, but were denied this time, sending the AGEN stock back to the sub-$1 level after having had an impressive run during 2009.
After trading at those levels for most of 2010, AGEN had a bit of a bounce back of late, hitting as high as just over $1.70, although no significant news had been released to spur such a spike in price.
Last week, however, the company announced encouraging results from a Phase I/II trial at the International Conference on Brain Tumor Research and Therapy, offering new life to Oncophage and drawing new attention to the stock. Any move towards approval is still a long way off, but Oncophage - awarded as the World Vaccine Congress "best therapeutic vaccine" in April, 2009 - could still have an impressive future, based on current developments and past events.
Oncophage is currently in various stages of development to treat a variety of cancer conditions and QS-21, Antigenics' vaccine adjuvant is being tested in numerous investigational vaccines and the company will receive some future royalty payments if any of those vaccines makes it to market.
It's also possible that Oncophage for kidney cancer is not a complete dud, as I believe that big pharma with big pockets could revive that indication in the event of either a buyout or partnership - a possibility that grows more probable with each passing day, in my opinion. I'm a fan of the future of cancer immunotherapy treatments, and it's still quite possible that Antigenics will play a large role in that future.
That said, AGEN is still a speculative stock and the current volatility should be used to flip a few trading shares, in my opinion, to protect against any future unexpected negative results.
I still like AGEN as a nice long term pick; any short to mid term stock gains would be the result of buyout / partnership talk or a revival of the kidney cancer treatment indication.
All just my opinion, each investor should do his or her own DD.
Disclosure: Long AGEN.