Replies to post #136800 on Biotech Values

[PoemStone]

DewDiligence. 1st time here. Nice Board! Marked, and mods.
Will come back with a pick, etc.

[dewophile]

re virdante acquisition:

In late 2011, we acquired the sialic switch assets of Virdante Pharmaceuticals Inc, which included intellectual property and cell lines relating to the sialylation of intravenous immunoglobulin or IVIG and other proteins. This technology represents an exciting approach to potentially regulate anti-inflammatory activity of proteins. And it also complements our existing antibody engineering platform.

I'm not sure how altering sialic acid residues affects Ab function, but i can share how it affects some other glycoprotein activity. Pituitary FSH is quite heterogeneous, and it has been shown that mroe acidic isoforms - primarily due to heavier sialylation - has greatly increased bioactivity in vivo. This is virtually entirely due to increased half life (in fact in vitro bioassays show slightly lower activity for these isoforms)
fwiw
i think the programs are too early to add any valuation to MNTA, but the basic science is sound