Abgenix mit genialem Jahresergebnis für 1999, heute fallen die 300 Euro

Abgenix Reports Year End Results

                            FREMONT,  Calif., Feb 18, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --  Abgenix, Inc.
                            (Nasdaq: ABGX) reported revenues of $12.3 million and a net loss of $20.5
                            million or $1.41 per share for the year ended December 31, 1999, compared with
                            revenues of $3.8 million and a net loss of $16.8 million or $3.00 per share for
                            the year ended December 31, 1998. Revenues for the quarter ended December 31,
                            1999, were $6.9 million, up from $1.8 million in the same quarter of 1998. The
                            net loss for the year and quarter ended December 31, 1999 includes a one-time
                            net charge of $8.7 million related to the termination of certain rights licensed
                            by Japan Tobacco from Xenotech. The company ended 1999 with $58.0 million in
                            cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Subsequent to year end,
                            Abgenix raised approximately $454 million in a February 2000 follow-on
                            financing.


                                Company highlights included:

                                -- Raising $577 million in a November 1999 private placement and follow-on
                                   public offerings in March 1999 and February 2000.
                                -- Increasing XenoMouse(TM) technology collaborations to fifteen covering
                                   at least twenty product candidates.
                                -- Initiating a phase III clinical trial of ABX-CBL in patients with
                                   severe graft versus host disease (GVHD) based on encouraging survival
                                   data from the phase II trial.
                                -- Completing a phase I/II clinical trial of ABX-IL8, the first human
                                   antibody from a transgenic mouse to be tested in humans, in
                                   moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients, that produced encouraging
                                   response rates.
                                -- Initiating a phase I clinical trial of ABX-EGF in cancer patients.
                                -- Acquiring full ownership and control of XenoMouse technology.
                                -- Entering collaborations with leading genomics companies, Human Genome
                                   Sciences and Curagen, to generate many potential product candidates.

                            "In 1999, we took Abgenix to the next level," stated R. Scott Greer, president and CEO of Abgenix. "We now have the capital
                            and disease target sources to generate a continuing stream of antibody product candidates to market to our pharmaceutical
                            collaborators." Abgenix is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and intends to commercialize antibody therapeutic
                            products for the treatment of a variety of disease conditions, including transplant-related diseases, inflammatory and
                            autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, and cancer. Abgenix has developed XenoMouse technology,
                            which it believes enables quick generation of high affinity, fully human antibody product candidates to essentially any
                            disease target appropriate for antibody therapy. Abgenix has collaborative arrangements with numerous pharmaceutical and
                            biotechnology companies involving its XenoMouse technology. In addition, Abgenix has multiple proprietary antibody product
                            candidates that are under development internally, three of which are in human clinical trials. STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

                                (in thousands except
                                 per share data)                 Three months ended       Year ended
                                                                    December 31,         December 31,
                                                                  1999        1998     1999        1998
                                                                    (unaudited)
                                Revenue                          $6,895      $1,834   $12,285     $3,842
                                Operating Expenses:
                                  General and administrative      1,736         853     5,164      3,405
                                  Research and development        6,735       5,601    21,106     17,588
                                  Equity in (income)
                                   losses in Xenotech
                                   joint venture                     11         107     (546)        107
                                  Termination fee (A)             8,667          --     8,667         --
                                    Total operating expenses     17,149       6,561    34,391     21,100
                                Interest (income) expense, net    (999)       (202)   (2,607)      (431)
                                Foreign income tax                1,000          --     1,000         --
                                Net loss                      $(10,255)    $(4,525) $(20,499)  $(16,827)
                                Net loss per share              $(0.64)     $(0.41)   $(1.41)    $(3.00)
                                Shares used in computing
                                 net loss per share              15,929      11,095    14,537      5,603

                                BALANCE SHEET                       December 31,
                                (in thousands)                    1999        1998
                                Cash, cash equivalents and
                                short-term investments          $58,011     $16,744
                                Property and equipment, net       5,300       5,435
                                Long-term investment             29,225          --
                                Intangible assets (B)            46,591          --
                                Other assets                      9,414       2,041
                                  Total assets                 $148,541     $24,220

                                Current liabilities             $10,910      $5,081
                                Long-term debt and other            571       2,180
                                Stockholders' equity            137,060      16,959
                                  Total liabilities and
                                   stockholders' equity        $148,541     $24,220

                                (A) Related to the termination of certain rights licensed by Japan Tobacco
                                    from Xenotech.
                                (B) Intangible assets acquired in conjunction with the acquisition of the
                                    Xenotech joint venture.

                            Statements made in this press release about Abgenix's XenoMouse technology, product development activities and collaborative
                            arrangements other than statements of historical fact, are forward looking statements and are subject to a number of
                            uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including risks associated with
                            the success of clinical trials, the progress of research and product development programs, the regulatory approval process,
                            competitive products, future capital requirements and the extent and breadth of Abgenix's patent portfolio. Please see
                            Abgenix's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about risks that may affect Abgenix.
                            SOURCE Abgenix, Inc.


 

Schade, dass es keiner lesen will & Morphosyssler schon dreimal nicht.



In an already hot biotech stock market, two companies stand above the pack. Monoclonal antibodies are one of biotech's earliest
 technologies, but Abgenix and Medarex have taught an old mouse new tricks. And drug companies and investors alike, it seems, just
 can't get enough.

 By B.J. Spalding


 By any measure, monoclonal antibodies are red hot. A look at the US market shows that companies are currently selling at least eight
 therapeutic antibodies for disorders ranging from transplant rejection to cardiovascular disease to cancer. And these antibodies are racking
 up big-time sales. In only its second full year on the market, for instance, Rituxan--an antibody that targets non-Hodgkin's lymphoma jointly
 owned by Genentech (South San Francisco, CA) and IDEC Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA)-- totaled US sales of $263 million, a whopping
 73% leap over its $152 million in 1998 sales.

 The antibody pipeline shows that a plethora of products are likely to follow. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
 (PhRMA, Washington, DC) reports that fully 20% of all biopharmaceuticals in clinical development in 1998 were monoclonal antibodies. But
 PhRMA only surveys its membership, which is largely made up of US pharmaceutical firms and largely excludes biopharmaceutical firms.
 According to monoclonal antibody manufacturer Medarex (Princeton, NJ), which commissioned a 1998 global survey, a total of 264
 companies are working on 701 therapeutic antibodies, 220 of which are wending their way through clinical trials.

 "Antibodies are the leading biologic being used in the development of therapeutic products. There's no other technology being used more
 often," says Donald Drakeman, Medarex's president and CEO. And Richard van den Broek, a biopharmaceutical analyst at Chase H&Q (New
 York), states simply that the "driving success of biotechnology for the past two years has been through monoclonal antibodies."

 More Ahead

 Yet antibody development, believe it or not, is poised to become an even bigger field. Two companies--Medarex and Abgenix (Fremont,
 CA)--have introduced cutting-edge technology that enables the rapid and inexpensive generation of high-affinity, fully human antibodies.






 They've done this by producing transgenic mice in which the mouse genes for making antibodies have been inactivated and replaced with
 human antibody genes. Thus, challenging the mice with an antigen results in the generation of human antibodies, not mouse antibodies.
 This solves perhaps the biggest problem with current commercial monoclonal antibodies, the fact that they contain potentially immunogenic
 mouse protein. In fact, all of the eight therapeutic antibodies now on the US market--which are either chimeric antibodies or humanized
 antibodies--contain some mouse protein.

 The business models of both Abgenix and Medarex call for the partnering of their technology with pharmaceutical and biotech firms that want
 to make human antibodies against one of their own antigens or targets. In return, both companies will potentially receive $7 million to $10
 million in license fees and milestone payments per target (not per partner, since some partners enroll more than one target in a deal), as
 well as potential royalties of 4% to 6%. And both Medarex and Abgenix have been highly successful in signing up such partners--Abgenix
 has landed 17, with Medarex close behind at 15 (see table).

 Two Leaders, No Followers

 "Abgenix has an industry-leading technology for generating fully human antibodies that has been validated by a who's who partner list of
 pharmaceutical, biotech, and genomic companies. And these companies are now working for us, building a large pipeline of products from
 which Abgenix will receive a piece of the action," says Scott Greer, Abgenix's president and CEO. And Medarex's Drakeman adds that the
 "current gold standard that's available for developing therapeutic antibodies--and one of the reasons for the current antibody revolution--is
 the ability to make fully human monoclonal antibodies. We do that for our partners."

 These two CEOs aren't simply hyping their technologies, at least according to several biopharmaceutical analysts. "These transgenic mice
 are one of the most demanded technologies in life sciences," says Jay Silverman of BancBoston Robertson Stephens (New York). Carolyn
 Pratt of Needham & Co. (Boston, MA) states, "These two companies, in our opinion, are in possession of the best technology currently
 available to generate monoclonal antibodies." And Michael Ehrenreich of Techvest Equity Research (New York) adds, "Given the resurgence
 in interest in monoclonal antibodies and the large numbers of collaborations already entered into by both Abgenix and Medarex, we believe
 that this technology will continue to be broadly utilized in the future."

 The recent stock prices of Abgenix and Medarex also support the contentions of their CEOs. Indeed, as of late January, Abgenix was trading
 at $152 a share, giving it a market capitalization of $2.7 billion. Over the preceding 52 weeks, though, Abgenix's stock has traded as low as
 $12.75 and as high as $192. Medarex's stock, for its part, was trading late January at an all-time high of $69, giving it a $2.2 billion market
 cap, while, over the previous 52 weeks, the company has traded as low as $2.25 (see sidebar, Industry Stocks Soar, Too).

 "Right now, there's a slight discount for Medarex. But over the recent past, the two companies have essentially been trading at a par to each
 other, and it makes sense for investors to view it that way. After all, they're both solid efforts, and each has signed similar numbers of
 partners, so there's obviously no consensus out in the world as to which is the better player," says Chase H&Q's van den Broek. Techvest's
 Ehrenreich agrees, stating that the "fact that they've both done so many deals and that they've both generated high-affinity antibodies to
 numerous targets tells me that the differences between the two are less relevant than their similarities."

 Why Drug Makers are Excited

 The fully human monoclonal antibodies made by Medarex and Abgenix eliminate the problems of earlier technologies (see Evolving
 Technologies: How Antibodies Work). Since the antibodies are 100% human, they require no engineering to eliminate mouse protein. "We
 don't engineer the antibodies. We engineer the mice themselves," explains Medarex's Drakeman. And Abgenix's Greer states, "We
 transplant the human antibody genes in the germ line of the mouse. So we only have to do it once. If we need more mice, we simply breed
 them."

 Transgenically produced antibodies have additional advantages over chimeric and humanized antibodies. Says Medarex's Drakeman,
 "We've created antibodies--made not only in our own labs but also in the labs of our corporate partners, like Centocor and Novartis--that
 have affinities that are perhaps 1,000-fold higher than the affinities of Herceptin, Rituxin, and the other antibodies now on the market.

 "Second, we can get antibodies to everything we've tried, including some extremely difficult targets. One target was 97% conserved protein
 and 100% conserved peptide. In other words, it would be very hard for the mouse immune system to recognize the target as foreign.
 Nonetheless, we were able to make 28 human antibodies that reacted with the peptide and the protein.

 "And then there's speed. How quickly can you get a new product into the clinic if you have an interesting target? We have the unique ability to
 offer what we call T12 development--that's target to trial in 12 months. We've just recently, for one of our partnered antibodies, gone from
 immunizing the mice to filing for clinical trials in 11 months. That, I'm quite sure, is record time."

 To manufacture an antibody made in the transgenic mice of Medarex or Abgenix, a company can use either a hybridoma or a recombinant
 cell line. "Both have advantages--a hybridoma is quicker, because you don't have to take all the time to clean the genes out, transfect them
 into a cell, and then nurse that cell along. So it's a more direct path. It can literally save you six months to a year off the process. But, in a
 recombinant cell line, the level of production that you can attain is higher than what you can get from a hybridoma, a two-fold to ten-fold
 difference in the level of productivity, measured in antibodies per liter. For commercial production, that's important. That's when you're
 worried about the cost of goods," explains Geoff Davis, Abgenix's chief scientific officer.

 Differences

 With so many similarities between these companies, investors might be concerned about possible intellectual property (IP) fights. Although
 the companies have an acrimonious past, IP issues have now been settled. Medarex and Abgenix have cross-licensed the patents covering
 their transgenic mice. "They have a 'duopoly.' The two of them own the business," says Chase H&Q's van den Broek.

 Steven Delco, a biopharmaceutical analyst at Miller Tabak Hirsch + Co. (New York), adds that since Abgenix and Medarex engaged in a
 drawn-out courtroom brawl before settling on a cross-license, their patents are "litigation tested. The litigation solidified the proprietary
 nature of the technology."

 Yet the transgenic mice of Abgenix and Medarex are by no means identical. The Abgenix mouse has far more human antibody genes
 than does the Medarex mouse. "Abgenix management believes that a higher portion of human DNA will result in a more robust immune
 response. However, to our knowledge, there has been no clinical evidence of greater therapeutic efficacy. We believe the monoclonal
 antibodies produced from the two mice are essentially identical," says Miller Tabak's Delco. A Medarex researcher states, "I'm not sure that
 the fact that Abgenix's mouse has more human genes is significant. The gene segments that we put in our mouse are the ones that are
 most frequently expressed. You have to be a little bit intelligent about these things."

 Nonetheless, Medarex is looking at the possibility of adding more human genes to its mice. In a strategic alliance signed just last month,
 the company gained access to a transgenic mouse that contains 100% of the human antibody genes, produced by the pharmaceutical
 division of Kirin Brewery (Tokyo). Medarex becomes the exclusive distributor of Kirin's mouse outside of Asia, while Kirin becomes the
 exclusive distributor of Medarex's mouse in Asia. In addition, Kirin and Medarex will allow in-house use of each other's technology to develop
 human therapeutic antibodies. The partners will also initiate a research collaboration to try to combine their technologies. "We plan to take
 the best parts of both technologies and put them together. Since we have a good working relationship so far, it should be a good technical
 alliance," says the Medarex researcher. Both Kirin and Medarex anticipate that the alliance could generate milestone payments from third
 parties in excess of $250 million.

 With cross-licensing matters settled and customers flocking in, both Medarex and Abgenix have bright prospects. "Are you a man or a
 mouse?" goes an old expression, a blandishment to fight for one's cause. But this tale of mice and men demonstrates that battle isn't
 always the best path to victory. Where men once butted heads over IP issues, the mice show there is enough room in the marketplace for
 peaceful coexistence.
 http://www.biospace.com/articles/020700.cfm
 culater  

Vielleicht hilft DAS oben und unten, nagelt euch Morph. vors KNIE!!!!





 Evolving Technologies: How Antibodies Work


 What is it that makes the antibodies of Abgenix and Medarex so special? Antibodies, which are made by B cells, contain two components
 that perform separate functions that, together, allow the antibody to eliminate from the body such foreign substances as infectious
 organisms. These antibody components are called the variable region, which binds to an antigen on the foreign substance, and the
 constant region, which signals other cells in the body, like macrophages, to eliminate the substance to which the antibody is bound.

 Although the constant region of an antibody doesn't vary much between antibodies, the variable region, as the name implies, is what makes
 each antibody unique, created by the immune system to target virtually any antigen that it encounters. While there are only a finite number of
 human genes that encode the variable region, antibody diversity is achieved because the body shuffles these genes in a nearly infinite
 number of combinations--a sort of combinatorial chemistry going on within the immune system.

 In the 1970s, researchers discovered that they could fuse an individual B cell with an immortal cell line, thereby creating a cell called a
 hybridoma. Such a hybridoma carries two attractive attributes: It grows indefinitely in culture, and when challenged with a given antigen, will
 secrete a specific antibody--called monoclonal because it derives from the clones of a single B cell.

 In the 1980s, scientists tried to use monoclonal antibodies made from mouse-derived hybridomas as therapeutics. But they discovered that
 mouse antibodies had significant limitations. The body recognizes them as foreign, generally resulting in rapid clearance of the antibody,
 particularly after sensitization of the body following repeated dosing. This phenomenon is referred to as the human-antimouse antibody
 (HAMA) response and makes mouse antibodies unsuitable for most repeated uses. Also, due to differences between the constant regions
 of mouse antibodies and human antibodies, mouse antibodies cannot efficiently activate other components of the human immune system,
 particularly the body's macrophages.

 To overcome these obstacles, researchers engineered mouse antibodies, using the tools of molecular biology. First, they developed
 chimeric antibodies by replacing the constant region of the mouse antibody with human protein, while allowing the antibody's variable region
 to remain mouse protein. This resulted in an antibody that was about 65% human protein. Currently, four of the eight therapeutic antibodies
 on the US market are chimeric antibodies, including Genentech/IDEC's Rituxan.

 Next, researchers improved upon chimeric antibodies by developing humanized antibodies. They did this by not only replacing the constant
 region of the mouse antibody with human protein, but by also replacing portions of the antibody's variable region with human protein. The
 result was an antibody that was roughly 90% human. Three of the therapeutic antibodies presently for sale in the US are humanized
 antibodies, among them Genentech's Herceptin, which treats certain forms of breast cancer.

 Yet both chimeric antibodies and humanized antibodies have drawbacks. Humanizing a mouse antibody or making it chimeric is labor and
 time intensive, often taking several months to complete. And humanized antibodies, in particular, often lose some of their affinity for the
 target antigen during the engineering process.


 Furthermore, since both chimeric antibodies and humanized antibodies are produced through recombinant-DNA technology, both must be
 manufactured with special cell lines, which is more expensive than hybridoma production. Intellectual property issues crop up, too--at least
 three companies claim to hold patents covering the humanization of monoclonal antibodies, including Genentech, the Medical Research
 Council in the UK, and Protein Design Labs (Fremont, CA). Licensing these patents, of course, requires the payment of licensing fees and,
 potentially, royalties.

 http://www.biospace.com/articles/020700_evolvingx.cfm
 culater  

Ist zwar kein NM-Wert. Aber mal interessenhalber: Was machen die genau. Wenns geht, mal so'n kleines Portrait und bitte nicht in Englisch. Da sind mir zu viele fachspezifische Wörter drin. Eine Übersetzung dauert mir zu lange. Das einzige was auf Anhieb klappt sind die Zahlen.

Mit bestem Dank.

Shorty  

Abgenix ABGX ist eines an der Nasdaq gelistetes Unternehmen, in Deutschland auch unter der WKN 915298, am besten in Frankfurt.

ABGX entwickelt menschliche Antikörper mittels der patentierten
Xenomouse transgenic mouse technology, die gegen GVHD (?), Arthritis, Krebs und Psoriasis (Schuppenflechte) eingesetzt werden kann.

Wie Du an den Entwicklungsstadien erkennen kannst, kommt in den nächsten 5 Jahren, wenn alles gut läuft, noch vieles Positives auf uns zu.

Mehr ein andermal.

TGK  

PR Newswire, 02/28/2000 18:45

                                 Abgenix Extends Antibody Collaboration With Pfizer

                                 Collaboration May Now Cover Five Antibody Product Candidates

                                 FREMONT, Calif., Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Abgenix, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABGX) announced today the inclusion of up to two
                                 additional antigen targets under a two-year extension of its human antibody collaboration with Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE:PFE),
                                 raising the possible total product candidates to five.

                                 Under the extended agreement, Abgenix will use its XenoMouse(TM) technology to generate fully human antibodies to two
                                 antigen targets named by Pfizer. As with the first three product candidates, Pfizer will be responsible for product
                                 development, manufacturing and marketing of any products developed through the collaboration. Under the new
                                 agreement, Abgenix will receive a fee to extend the agreement and could receive potential research, license fee and milestone payments plus royalties on
                                 product sales.

                                 "We have had a very fruitful collaboration with Pfizer and are pleased with the company's desire to expand our existing agreement to cover up to five product
                                 candidates," stated R. Scott Greer, president and chief executive officer of Abgenix. "This commitment by Pfizer is representative of the growing enthusiasm
                                 for antibody products among major pharmaceutical companies."

                                 The December 1997 agreement between Abgenix and Pfizer provided Pfizer with the option to license XenoMouse technology for up to three antigen
                                 targets. As part of this arrangement, Pfizer made an equity investment in Abgenix. Pfizer exercised its first option immediately, and its second option in
                                 October 1998. In November 1999, Pfizer exercised its option on the last of these initial antigen targets. All of the product candidates selected to date are in
                                 the oncology field.

                                 Abgenix is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and intends to commercialize antibody therapies for the treatment of such conditions as
                                 transplant-related diseases, inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, and cancer. For more information on
                                 Abgenix, visit the company's Web site at www.abgenix.com.

                                 Abgenix developed XenoMouse(TM) technology to enable the rapid generation of high affinity, fully human antibody product candidates to essentially any
                                 disease target appropriate for antibody therapy. Abgenix has collaborative arrangements with multiple pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies involving
                                 its XenoMouse technology. In addition, Abgenix has multiple proprietary antibody product candidates under development internally, three of which are in
                                 human clinical trials for graft-versus-host disease, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer.

                                 Statements made in this press release about Abgenix's XenoMouse technology, product development activities and collaborative arrangements other than
                                 statements of historical fact, are forward looking statements and are subject to a number of uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
                                 from the statements made, including risks associated with the success of clinical trials, the progress of research and product development programs, the
                                 regulatory approval process, competitive products, future capital requirements and the extent and breadth of Abgenix's patent portfolio. Please see
                                 Abgenix's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about risks that may affect Abgenix. SOURCE Abgenix, Inc.
 

                                 BusinessWire, 03/1/2000 23:59

                                 SplitTrader.com Announces Investment Opinion on Abgenix, Inc.

                                 by SplitTrader.com

                                 LITTLETON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2000--

                                 SplitTrader.com's Omniscient Split Predictions Continue

                                 Abgenix, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABGX), a biopharmaceutical company based in Fremont, Calif., declared a 2:1 stock split
                                 Wednesday night as approved by their Board of Directors.

                                 The split will be paid in the form of a 100% stock dividend on April 6th to shareholders of record as of March 16th. There are currently about 19.7 million
                                 ABGX shares outstanding with 50 million authorized, and a float of 13.5 million. Today's announcement marks the first split in Abgenix's history and
                                 SplitTrader.com foresaw it, having added the stock to our Split Candidate List several weeks ago.

                                 Abgenix is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the development of products for the treatment of various diseases. The main ailments treated by
                                 the products include transplant- related diseases, inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Abgenix has developed its
                                 own technology, XenoMouse, for the facilitated and accelerated generation of human antibody product candidates for antibody therapy. In addition to the
                                 four proprietary antibody product candidates being developed internally, Abgenix has arrangements with various pharmaceutical and biotech companies
                                 involving XenoMouse.

                                 ABGX broke through $60 in the beginning of December and hasn't quit since. With only a few small relapses, the stock has seen its way to become one
                                 of the priciest on the exchange closing Wednesday at $349.63. Trading volume has been on the rise recently, picking up to a 10-day average of 599,000
                                 from 419,500 in the 3-month, but has lagged in the last couple of days. Stay tuned to SplitTrader.com as we will be watching ABGX closely for an ideal
                                 entry point to a probable Split Run Play in the near future.

                                 Please check out SplitTrader's detailed profile on Abgenix, Incorporated, and click the link below to view the ABGX stock chart.

                                 Chart = http://www.splittrader.com/charts/charts.asp?symbol=ABGX

                                 About www.SplitTrader.com, the FREE website for stock split traders: www.SplitTrader.com (ST) specializes in showing investors how to properly trade
                                 stock splits and is the leading website for identifying new split candidates. ST offers daily market commentary, thorough analysis, and market-beating
                                 performance in its stock recommendations. ST offers a complete sector watch, insightful editorials, email split notifications, a complete split calendar, and a
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