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Icos chief stirs up interest in Cialis at investor
event
January 14, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO — Icos Chief Executive
Paul Clark keeps hearing the same questions:
When are Cialis ads going to hit TV? How fast
are prescriptions coming in for the impotence
drug? How much of the market is it taking from
Viagra?
Clark tried yesterday to keep expectations
under control while he whipped up enthusiasm
for Cialis at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference,
the biotech industry's biggest annual investor
event.
Clark told investors that Icos and Eli
Lilly sales reps were calling doctors to
pitch the drug the day after it won approval
from the Food and Drug Administration in November,
and the drug was shipped to 80 percent of U.S.
pharmacies within two weeks. The consumer-ad
campaign isn't ready for prime time, but Clark
said the Bothell company hopes the FDA will
approve the ads to run in the first quarter.
And when they arrive, he said, the ads will
have bite because, unlike those for rival Levitra,
the Cialis ads will most likely describe what
the drug is for, including information on benefits
and side effects.
"They will (emphasize) to men and women,
the freedom to choose the moment for intimacy
that is right for them," Clark said.
But Clark tried to discourage investors from
making quick judgments on U.S. sales because
the drug just became available during the holiday
season. Early sales data will be skewed by pharmacy
stocking and won't be a good barometer of patient
demand, Clark said.
Clark also outlined Icos' other products in
development, like RTX, an experimental treatment
for frequent and painful urination, and IC485,
which recently started a midstage clinical
trial in emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Icos' pipeline, which less than two years ago
had eight drug candidates, has been trimmed
to four.
The company is looking to buy partial rights
to drugs from another company, Clark said.
Seattle Genetics
Seattle Genetics attracted a large crowd to
its presentation. Chief Executive Clay Siegall
said the company's lead experimental drug, SGN-15,
is being analyzed for its ability to prolong
lives for lung cancer patients when given in
combination with chemotherapy.
The company said it plans to release that data
at the American Society of Clinical Oncology
meeting in a few months.
But before it decides whether to go to the
final — and most expensive — stage
of development, it is studying different dosages
in a small number of patients over the next
several months.Seattle Genetics also outlined
its technology for linking antibodies to small
doses of chemotherapy.
The company attracted attention last month
when Genentech and Protein Design Labs bought
more rights to use the technology.
Dendreon
The Seattle company was still basking in the
glow of data showing that its prostate-cancer
treatment prolonged lives by a median of 8.4
months.
Chief Executive Mitchell Gold told investors
the company has scoped the market for its drug
and thinks about 3,000 urologists would prescribe
it the most.
Of course, Dendreon still needs to finish its
last clinical trial to prove Provenge works
well enough to win FDA
approval, a process expected to take two
years. Once the drug is on the market, Dendreon
also hopes the immune-system stimulator will
catch on with patients who aren't as sick.
"Provenge has the potential to change
the way we treat prostate cancer in the future,"
Gold said.
Corus Pharma
The Seattle drug developer, one of about 60
private companies invited to the conference,
is trying to raise another round of cash —
at least $40 million — to keep its trials
moving, Chief Executive Bruce Montgomery said.
The company expects to give investors more news
soon — clinical results are due in the
next two weeks on the midstage trial of an inhaled
antibiotic for asthma.
Luke Timmerman: 206-515-5644 or ltimmerman@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company
source:-http://seattletimes.nwsource.com
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