| A Giant Leap for MannKind KLLJ Investments submits: July 20th, 1969: Neil Armstrong steps off the Eagle’s footpad and onto the moon uttering those famous words; “That’s one small step for {a} man, one giant leap for mankind.” I wonder if Al Mann had those words ringing in his ear when deciding on the name ‘MannKind’ for the company he founded and still serves as Chairman and CEO of. MannKind is a standout among a field of biotech companies trying to change the world and bring their first product to market. It is the only company I know of whose founder has invested such a vast fortune on. Entrepreneurs often invest a large portion of their wealth on new companies, but when your wealth is in the Billions, it is rare indeed. To date, MannKind has invested $1.6B developing their Technosphere delivery platform, the first drug to use that platform, AFREZZA, and their cancer immunotherapy programs. Al Mann has stated in the past that he doesn’t invest his money on anything he can’t expect to get at least a 10x return on. In Al’s case, that is approximately $800M including a line of credit MannKind is using for funding, which would mean Al expects to get at least $8B for his investment. That would value MannKind close to $20B in Al’s eyes. Those are big numbers for a company trading with a market cap of $560M. Al Mann is one of the richest men in America. Why would he bother at the ripe age of 85 to still spend his time championing MannKind and betting his hard earned money backing the company? Could he be senile? I don’t think so. I believe he knows what the market and most of the analyst community doesn’t. That is that MannKind’s Technosphere platform is a ‘game-changer’ and has the potential to be a disruptive technology in pharmacology. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Sanofi-Aventis Approaches Genzyme Sanofi-Aventis has made an informal acquisition approach to biotechnology drug maker Genzyme, which has a market value of about $14 billion. online.wsj.com |
Clarient Announces U.S. and European Patents Allowed for Mammostrat® Breast Cancer Prognostic Test (PR Newswire) Clarient, Inc. , a premier technology and services resource for pathologists, oncologists and the pharmaceutical industry, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office have allowed patents covering the technology behind Clarient Insight® Dx Mammostrat®, a test designed to aid in the classification of the risk of recurrence of breast cancer following surgery and initial treatment. us.rd.yahoo.com |
Can Array BioPharma Attract Yet Another Partner? M.E. Garza submits: By Patrick Crutcher Shares of Array BioPharma Inc.(NASDAQ:ARRY) traded up after announcing positive interim results of its novel, oral HER2 (ErbB2) inhibitor, ARRY-380, in a Phase 1 trial in patients with advanced cancer. The results presented at the 2010 ASCO Breast Cancer Symposium in National Harbor, Maryland, may attract some attention to the company going forward. ARRY-380 is a potent, orally active small molecule drug that has been well-tolerated to date and selectively inhibits tumor growth in preclinical models of HER2-dependent tumors. HER2, also known as ErbB2, is a receptor tyrosine kinase that has been found to be over-expressed in breast cancer and other cancers such as gastric and ovarian. ARRY-380 has demonstrated significant dose-related tumor growth inhibition in preclinical models that was superior to Herceptin and Tykerb(lapatinib) and was additive for tumor growth inhibition in preclinical models when dosed in combination with the standard of care therapeutics such as Herceptin(trastuzumab) or Taxotere(docetaxel). Ideally, ARRY-380 would be competing with Herceptin, which is a blockbuster drug for Genentech (DNA).Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Lungs Can 'Taste' Bacteria The same taste buds we have on the tongue to detect bitterness also exist on lung muscle so that the airways can "taste" dangerous illness-causing bacteria, according to new research. online.wsj.com |