kynamro: the malignancies are a “new concern”, page-72

For those interested ISIS fell a further 6% to $9.58, below is part of an article from "RX Stocks" of particular note is the section I have separated into a separate paragraph.

Often fighting a trend is futile, ISIS does have a pipeline as Cramer pointed out, but odds are it can reacquired much lower, perhaps near the previous recent low of about $6 per share. It should be kept in mind that ISIS has a history of drug development with partners, that could continue to steadily increase revenue. Isis does have revenue, so the fate of mepomerson is not a cataclysmic event for Isis.

"Vitravene the first antisense drug, used for cytolomegalovirus infections, demonstrates this is a viable platform and can lead to more rapid drug development. Although it is a second line drug, it bodes well for the development of drugs with this platform. Indeed, Isis has more than 20 drugs under development, eight are in PhASE II trials. OGX-011 is licensed to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) and has entered stage 3 trials for cancer."

Below is the withdrawal notice by Novartis of Vitravene:

Novartis Ophthalmics Europe, a division of Swiss drug major Novartis,has voluntarily withdrawn the European Union Marketing Authorization for Vitravene (fomivirsen), the first and only antisense drug on the market, for the local treatment of cytomegalovirus retinitis in patients with AIDS.

The MA was first issued in July 1999 and, in May this year, the company notified the European Commission of its intention to withdraw the drug, stressing that this was for commercial and not safety-related concerns. According to Novartis, the demand for Vitravene is less than 1000 units a year and so the firm does not believe the withdrawal will have any negative impact on patients in Europe.