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FYI
Guilford aims to start human test of nerve drug
By Stephanie O'Brien
CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 5:17 PM ET Feb 3, 1999
See Medtronic
story
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Guilford Pharmaceuticals expects
to start tests
in humans of a drug that could treat Parkinson's
disease.
In a presentation to investors at the Piper Jaffray
Health Care Conference in New York, the
company's (GLFD) CEO, Craig Smith, said the
company expects to soon start testing the drug it's
developing with partner Amgen (AMGN).
With Amgen, Guilford's neurological program has
developed a series of drugs that can be given orally
to regenerate nerve cells in people suffering from
spinal injury, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other
disorders.
The drug protects nerve cells and appears to
regenerate nerve cells, said Peter Ginsberg, an
analyst at Piper Jaffray. "It's a big step," he said
The drug, which will be in a pill form, will be less
invasive than injection into the central nervous
system, he added.
The company's first approved delivery system,
Gliadel, is a medicinal wafer placed in the space left
when a brain tumor is removed. Gliadel is being
marketed in the U.S. and abroad by Rhone-Poulenc Rorer.
Gliadel
prolongs the survival rate for malignant brain cancer
by 50 percent, Smith
said.
Post surgery, the implant kills tumor cells at the
edges of the surgical cavity.
Guilford also hopes to expand the market for its wafer
drug-delivery
systems. The company hopes to use similar technology to
treat ovarian
cancer and aims to launch a study this year, Ginsberg
said.
Separately, Smith told CBS.MarketWatch.com that he sees
fourth-quarter results in line with analysts'
expectations. Guilford is
expected to lose 47 cents a share, the average estimate
in a First Call
survey.
The Baltimore-based company is expected to report
financial results on
Feb. 16. Shares of Guilford on Wednesday rose 5/8 to 14
1/4. For more
conference reports, See our Renegade flashes.
