KC there are numerous possibilities firstly as to who the...

KC there are numerous possibilities firstly as to who the pharmaceutical is and in fact what the negotiations are about in terms of ATL1103.

Back a while yes i thought it had to be Pfizer. It may well be and they might be looking to stop ANP or any future competitor getting ATL1103 to the acromegaly market to compete with somavert. This is very possible as in my understanding from the meetings i have attended and Dr Cohens presentation they believe ATL1103 will be a dominant player in the acromegaly market concidering it is about half the price of somavert and only needs injecting once a week in comparison to somavert's daily injection. Which patient wouldn't go for a drug that is half the price and also taken less frequently especially when it is injected. So why wouldn't Pfizer be looking to take ATL1103 for the use of acromegaly. All in all Pfizer does look like a great fit as to the pharma in negotiations with ANP but till all is revealed we cant be sure.

I also believe that it could possibly be GSK who have licensed to of the Isis rare and severe disease drugs in the Isis pipeline. They are very keen on these drugs and have snapped up 2 of these drugs one at the same stage as ATL1103 and 1 at an earlier stage. So GSK are interested and to top it off ATL1103 covers 2 of the areas they are keen on the rare disease space and diseases causing blindness. ATL1103 has applications in acromegaly a rare disease and also diabetic retinopathy (blindness).

So all in all they are my 2 favorites to be the pharma in negotiations but hey who knows if it might be someone else. Pfizer has the most reason to be the one due to somavert and potential competition to their drug but GSK are very keen on this space and have already licensed 2 of the Isis drugs in this space.

Going on from here yes Pfizer may be looking to lock up ATL1103 acromegaly to stop competition to somavert and possibly have them as a combined treatment but this still leaves ATL1103 open to the other applications for ANP to either partner off with others or move into trials. These negotiations could be for acromegaly alone or all applications. If all i would expect a significant upfront cash payment as ATL1103 has numerous applications and Dr Dohen stated that 1103 was a possible blockbuster which would most likely dominate the acromegaly market. But the bigger potential was in the cancer market with its ability to reduce igf level he stated. If a Pfizer were to move into Phs2 acromegaly trials we may see ANP move onto cancer or diabetic retinopathy trials. What we also dont know is if this deal is for the pharma to take the drug solely or for both parties to stay involved via a joint licensing agreement where by the pharma pays milestones and ANP continue with trials. There are numerous possibilities here and i believe we will find out soon. Good luck all and i anticipate we may see the 3.9c November high gone through within the next few weeks.