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Monday July 9, 6:12 am Eastern Time Xenova gets a kick from cocaine vaccine (UPDATE: Adds share advance, CEO comments on possible divestment) By Ben Hirschler, European Pharmaceuticals Correspondent LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - British biotechnology company Xenova Group Plc said on Monday it had won a green light from U.S. regulators to resume clinical trials on the world`s first anti-cocaine addiction vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration put a ``clinical hold`` on TA-CD last August after a related anti-nicotine product caused eye irritation in rabbits. No such effects were observed with the cocaine vaccine, however, and human testing restrictions have now been lifted. Shares in Xenova gained 4.3 percent 48-1/2 pence on the news -- but the stock is still languishing at less than half its end-2000 level of 105p, reflecting scepticism about a merger with fellow UK biotech Cantab earlier this year. TA-CD -- a product from the Cantab stable -- works by generating antibodies in the bloodstream that prevent cocaine from crossing into the brain, thereby blocking the normal ``high`` generated by cocaine. It could help addicts trying to kick their habit during the nine months it typically takes for cocaine craving to disappear. New Phase IIa trial data presented at a drug addiction meeting in Arizona showed TA-CD was well tolerated in a nine-patient study and showed signs of efficacy. Five subjects stayed off cocaine and the other four experienced ``an attenuation of the usual euphoric effects of cocaine``. VACCINE MAY BE SOLD OFF Industry analysts said the cocaine vaccine was not a core product for Xenova and Chief Executive David Oxlade acknowledged it was one of a number of programmes that might be spun off as part of a restructuring overhaul. ``At the time of our interim results in mid-August we will give a product-by-product update...this could fall into either category,`` he told Reuters. ``Although TA-CD is not within our major area of focus, which is cancer, it nonetheless has substantial commercial potential.`` Xenova announced last month it would cut its portfolio and shed a quarter of its workforce in a bid to cut operating costs by some nine million pounds ($12.7 million) a year, compared with expenditure last year of 24.3 million. A new Phase II study, during which addicts will be given cocaine before and after vaccination to test the effect of TA-CD, is due to start shortly, with the support of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse. An estimated 900,000 people seek treatment for cocaine addiction every year in the United States alone and Oxlade said any product helping them kick the habit was likely to command a good price, since most were affluent and well-insured. Andrew Forsyth, biotechnology analyst at Williams de Broe, said the cocaine news was encouraging but the fortunes of the company hinged more on its cancer products. Xenova has a total of eight products in clinical trials and hopes to conclude a deal on a XR 9576, designed to fight multidrug resistant cancer, by the end of the third quarter. gruss tb 2 |
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| aus der Diskussion: | XENOVA - DISKUSSIONS-THREAD Nr. 2 (Stand: 06.11.2000) |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | thebull 2 (09.07.01 12:38:50) |
| Beitrag: | 61 von 275 (ID:3913765) |
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