I'm looking for the name of a small Nasdaq traded biotech company with
a drug in phase III trials. This is the second go-round for this drug.
The first trials were conducted by a big pharma company and failed.
The biotech firm subsequently got back the rights to the drug and has
gotten approval from the FDA to re-test. Preliminary reports indicate
that the drug is efficacious under the revised testing procedures. The
drug is a substitute for chemotherapy, but supposedly the disease
being targeted is not cancer. The potential market for this drug is $4
billion per year. Name that company!

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Request for Question Clarification by snapanswer-ga on 06 Aug 2002 15:04 PDT

I've narrowed it down to a handful of companies.  You mentioned that
this drug has to do with chemotherapy, but does not have to do with
cancer.  Is it possible that the drug helps to alleviate side effects
of chemotherapy?

All of the other drugs I've researched that substitute for
chemotherapy are targeted at various forms of cancer.

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Clarification of Question by bigfootmm-ga on 06 Aug 2002 16:00 PDT

Yes, I agree that chemotherapy and cancer go hand in hand, but the
information I have is that the drug being tested is a substitute for
chemotherapy and the chemotherapy is not directed at cancer. This
could be semantics, I don't know. Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, for example,
is a type of cancer, but some people might classify it as something
else.

At this point, I would accept the handful of companies that you have
discovered and then do some further stock research on my own. But as I
understand it, there are very few cases where the FDA allows a re-test
of a drug and fewer yet where a small company has taken back the
rights to a drug and then got a re-test after a major company's test
failed, so this unnamed company should stand out when it is looking at
a $4 billion dollar market! Thanks very much for your efforts.

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Request for Question Clarification by snapanswer-ga on 09 Aug 2002 10:02 PDT

I apologize for taking the extra step of double-checking, but, I want
to be sure that the information I provide will be satisfactory.  Let
me explain what I have found, so that I have set your expectations
properly.

I have found a biotech industry web site with the latests news.  There
I was able to find those companies that trade on NASDAQ with
chemotherapy-related drugs in Phase III trials.  What I am unable to
confirm is which company bought back the rights for the product, and I
am only able to confirm that it's a re-test in some cases.

For each company I list, I would provide a summary of what I found.

Please let me know if that will be an acceptable answer.  If not, I
will happily provide a link to the industry web site as a comment,
rather than an answer.  This would at least give you a direction to
continue your research.

Please let me know which you prefer.

Thank you.

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Clarification of Question by bigfootmm-ga on 09 Aug 2002 13:38 PDT

I appreciate your efforts in doing the research.

Yes,I will accept your summary as a complete answer. I wonder, though,
whether "chemotherapy-related drugs" is exactly right, because the
company in question makes a drug that replaces chemotherapy;
consequently, the drug may not be chemotherapy-related.

Thanks!

I was able to identify four companies trading on NASDAQ that have
developed products either replacing, enhancing, or reducing the side
effects of chemotherapy.

I list the candidates here, in order from most likely to least likely.
 Pharmacyclics, Inc. seems to be the most likely candidate for the
following reasons:
 - Their treatments focus on a number of diseases, not solely cancer. 
In addition to cancer and brain metastases, they treat arterial
disease and macular degeneration.
 - Xcytrin will undergo a second Phase III trial.
 - They have retained development and marketing rights to their
treatments (unable to confirm whether or not they had to re-acquire
the rights).
 - The first trial failed, but the FDA approved a re-trial in a
subgroup where there was success.
 - The treatments could replace chemotherapy, depending upon what
energy source is used for a particular procedure.  (Potential
Disqualifier:  It can also be used in conjunction with chemotherapy).

The other three companies listed have more serious disqualifications. 
However, I have provided information about them, on the possibility
that there is an unforseen match.

I hope you find this information useful and easy to understand.  If
anything remains unclear, or if I have neglected a point in your
question, please do not hesitate to ask for a clarification.



Pharmacyclics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC)
http://www.pharmacyclics.com/
Disqualifier:  Can be used with chemotherapy (,light, X-Ray, or
radiation).

BioSpace Summary for Pharmacyclics, Inc.
http://www.biospace.com/company_profile.cfm?CompanyID=1479
"The company's lead product candidate, XcytrinŽ (motexafin gadolinium)
Injection, is being developed for the potential treatment of various
types of cancer in conjunction with radiation and chemotherapy. Its
other investigational products are being evaluated in conjunction with
photodynamic light therapy in clinical trials for the potential
treatment of cervical and breast cancer, for coronary artery and
peripheral arterial disease and for age-related macular degeneration,
the leading cause of blindness in the United States."

Press Release:  "Pharmacyclics Announces Plans For Additional Phase 3
Clinical Trial With Xcytrin"
http://www.biospace.com/news_story.cfm?StoryID=8368016&full=1 




IntraBiotics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  (NASDAQ: IBPI)
http://www.intrabiotics.com/
Disqualifier:  Product does not replace chemotherapy.  Instead it
treats side effects.

BioSpace Summary for IntraBiotics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
"The Company has two lead product candidates, Ramoplanin Oral and
Protegrin IB-367 Rinse, each in pivotal Phase III clinical trials.
Ramoplanin may kill sufficient bacteria in the intestine to reduce the
incidence of potentially fatal bloodstream infections in patients
undergoing chemotherapy. In separate Phase III trials in patients
undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Protegrin is being tested
for the ability to reduce the severity of oral mucositis, one of the
most common side effects of cancer therapies."




Cell Genesys, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEGE)
http://www.cellgenesys.com/
Disqualifier:  Phase III trials announced, but not started.

Cell Genesys, Inc. Press Release:  Cancer vaccine ready for Phase III
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/06-27-2002/0001754917
"GVAX(R) cancer vaccines have demonstrated antitumor effects against
every type of human cancer against which they have been tested to
date, and the company is currently evaluating these products in five
types of cancer -- prostate, lung, pancreatic, leukemia and myeloma."



EntreMed, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENMD)  
http://www.entremed.com/
Disqualifier: No Phase III trials currently.

BioSpace Summary for EntreMed, Inc.
http://www.biospace.com/company_profile.cfm?CompanyID=2078
"Current core technologies include four antiangiogenic product
candidates: Thalidomide, Angiostatin™ protein, Endostatin™ protein,
and 2-methoxyestradiol which represent potential next-generation
cancer therapies. Current standard-of-care for cancer patients
requires surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, all of which have
severe drawbacks and limited effectiveness. Antiangiogenic agents work
in a different way: in preclinical and clinical studies they have been
shown to stop blood vessel growth and therefore selectively starve
tumors, resulting in stable disease or tumor regression."




BioSpace: Companies with the keyword "Chemotherapy"
http://www.biospace.com/navigate/search.cfm?range=companies&search=1&showmore=1&searchstring=chemotherapy

Search Terms: chemotherapy replacement second Phase III trial NASDAQ
://www.google.com/search?q=chemotherapy+replacement+second+Phase+III+trial+NASDAQ

Thanks very much for the thorough and comprehensive answer.
Pharmacyclics does seem to be the most likely company. Now that I have
these names I can keep an eye on them for developing news.