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Cardiovascular Treatments and Oncology Developments Take Center Stage at BioCEO & Investor Conference
NEW YORK, February, 15, 2007 - Life Science Stocks.com -The BioCEO & Investor Conference kicked off early this week with a surprise early morning announcement by presenting company Onyx Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ONXX) that their pivotal Phase III trial of Nexavar® for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (primary liver cancer) had been a resounding success. The independent data monitoring committee supervising the trial had found sufficiently positive results to recommend an early stop to the trial, and the company, with the concurrence of the panel had decided to make Nexavar available to all patients on the placebo arm of the trial. Shares of Onyx soared Monday morning, and continued their rise on Tuesday trading at $26.02 in after hours trading, a gain of over 100% from Friday’s close of $12.26.
In the cardiovascular arena, a panel chaired by Mark Penn, MD, PhD and Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation described some potentially groundbreaking work in cardiovascular drugs that could have a major impact in future treatment protocols in light of the growing controversy over the viability of the “stent first, ask questions later” model for cardiac care. Some significant studies released recently have indicated that the far to many patients are receiving stents, and that drugs may be a far better alternative for the vast majority of patients who are not suffering from severe debilitating chest pain. With a growing trend towards increasing the role of drugs, the BioCEO panel members described some interesting drug candidates in their pipelines.
Stanley Crooke, Chairman and CEO of Isis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ISIS) (Nasdaq: ISIS) spoke enthusiastically about the applications of his company’s breakthrough Antisense technology in developing an aggressive lipid control agent that has potential to lower not only LDL, but also triglycerides. Lee Southard, Chairman and CEO of privately held VasoGenix focused on his early stage Calcitonim Gene Related Peptide program for heart failure, an area of health care that is currently consuming over $30 billion in health spending per year in the United States.
Jeff Golture, VP of Research, deCode Genetics (Nasdaq: DCGN) spoke of ongoing developments of their clot preventing product, which is designed to attack the prostaglandin thrombosis cascade at an earlier stage than that currently targeted by Plavix, potentially creating a more effective drug, with fewer side effects. Jay Kleiman, Head of Cardiovacular Development Vasogen, Inc. (Nasdaq: VSGN) described their research aimed at reducing the underlying inflammation and damage that is the major signpost for heart failure.
Robert Blum CEO and President, Cytokinetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CYTK) wrapped up the panel with an overview of their development candidate CK1827452 which has the potential to restore greater efficiency and contractility to hearts damaged by heart failure. The panel members laid out a promising era of new cardiovascular drugs which could transform cardiac care over the next ten years.