Replies to post #96433 on Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

ANDS translation: “We shopped ANA598 to every company who’s even remotely interested in HCV, but there were no takers. WTF do we do now?”

Answer: Raise more cash. This deal brings in $11.3M of net proceeds (5.8M sh @$2.15, less the banker’s placement fee):

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Anadys-Pharmaceuticals-Inc-prnews-2488284349.html?x=0&.v=1

Lazard gets paid by ANDS for the direct placement as well as getting paid for the “strategic review.” Nice work if you can get it.

[rkrw]

It's fairly standard to have an investment bank representative when you're shopping yourself.

[ghmm]

I was trying to think of the HCV deals (which seem to me have been getting less lucrative). Was VRTX's acquisition of Virochem the last big (I know that's relatively but lets say > 100 million up front cash/stock)? I searched and it seems like it was just over a year ago (march '09) and they got $100 million cash and $275 million in Vertex stock.

[DewDiligence]

This is a somewhat cheesy PR from ANDS regarding ANA598.
The data reported here are not especially consequential and could
simply have been disclosed on the quarterly CC this morning. In
a separate PR issued today, ANDS disclosed that its 6/30/10
cash balance was $22.1M.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ANA598-Demonstrates-SVR12-in-prnews-299546368.html?x=0&.v=1

›ANA598 Demonstrates SVR12 in 100% of First Group of HCV Patients Randomized to Stop All Treatment at Week 24

Benefit of ANA598 Post Therapy with IFN/RBV Persists in 6 of 6 Patients

Thursday July 29, 2010, 7:30 am EDT

SAN DIEGO, July 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ANDS) today announced that six of six patients (100%) in the ANA598 200 mg twice daily (bid) arm who were randomized to stop all treatment at Week 24 in an ongoing Phase II trial maintained undetectable levels of virus 12 weeks after stopping treatment, referred to as Sustained Virological Response 12, or SVR12.

The Company also reported that all available patients from the ANA598 200 mg arm who were previously reported to have undetectable levels of virus at Week 24 and continued on pegylated interferon and ribavirin (current standard of care, or SOC) also maintained undetectable levels of virus at Week 36. In addition, all patients from the ANA598 400 mg arm who were previously reported to have undetectable levels of virus at Week 12 and continued on SOC maintained undetectable levels of virus at Week 24. ANA598, Anadys' direct-acting antiviral or DAA, is being developed to treat hepatitis C and is in an ongoing Phase II trial in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

"The SVR12 data reported today for ANA598 are highly encouraging," said Steve Worland, Ph.D., President and CEO of Anadys. "These data illustrate the potential for HCV patients to be successfully treated with shortened courses of treatment, reflecting the continuing benefit of ANA598 post-therapy. We believe these data, coupled with the excellent barrier to resistance demonstrated in this trial as well as the favorable safety and tolerability, confirm ANA598's position as one of the most attractive agents in Phase II HCV development today."

The six patients who stopped all treatment at Week 24 were part of an investigation of response-guided treatment duration for ANA598 in which patients who had achieved undetectable levels of virus (<15 IU/mL) at Weeks 4 and 12 were randomized 1:1 to stop all treatment at Week 24 or Week 48. In addition to the six patients who stopped treatment at Week 24, six patients in the 200 mg bid arm are continuing to receive SOC alone through Week 48 for comparison purposes. Additionally, 14 patients from the ANA598 400 mg bid arm and 4 patients from the control arm (receiving placebo plus SOC) met the stopping criteria and have been randomized to stop all treatment at Week 24 or 48. The initial post-treatment results from these latter arms are expected later this year for those patients who stopped therapy at Week 24.

Conference Call Webcast and Slides

Anadys will hold a conference call and webcast today, Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time to discuss the post-treatment results from the ongoing Phase II combination study and Anadys' second quarter 2010 financial results A live webcast of the call, including accompanying slides, will be available online at www.anadyspharma.com. A telephone replay with slides will also be available approximately one hour after completion of the call. To access the telephone replay, dial 888-286-8010 (domestic) or 617-801-6888 (international), passcode 28631163. The webcast and telephone replay will be available through August 12, 2010.

Phase II Combination Study

In the ongoing Phase II study, approximately 90 treatment-naive genotype 1 HCV patients have received ANA598 or placebo in combination with Pegasys® (peginterferon alfa-2a) and Copegus® (ribavirin, USP) for 12 weeks at dose levels of 200 mg bid or 400 mg bid, each with a loading dose of 800 mg bid on day one. After week 12, patients are to continue receiving SOC. Patients who achieved undetectable levels of virus at weeks 4 and 12 were randomized to stop all treatment at week 24 or 48. The primary endpoint of the study is the proportion of patients who achieve undetectable levels of virus at week 12 (defined as complete Early Virological Response, or cEVR). Additional endpoints include safety and tolerability as well as the proportion of patients with undetectable levels of virus at week 4 (defined as Rapid Virological Response, or RVR). Patients will be followed for 24 weeks after stopping therapy to determine the rate of Sustained Virological Response, or SVR. Approximately 90 patients have been enrolled in this study – with approximately 30 patients receiving ANA598 plus SOC at each dose level and 30 patients receiving placebo plus SOC. The study is being managed by the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and is being conducted at a number of clinical sites in the United States.‹

[DewDiligence]

ANDS in underwritten financing with terms and the number of shares to be determined:

http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1128495/000095012310093180/a57558pre424b5.htm

I think ANDS was planning a financing deal in late July and issued a “pump” PR with SVR12 data on six patients in order to facilitate it (#msg-52795551, #msg-52795076). The financing deal presumably failed to get off the ground in July because of general market conditions.