Apr 16, 2009 (The Australian Financial Review - ABIX via COMTEX)...

Apr 16, 2009 (The Australian Financial Review - ABIX via COMTEX) -- CXSFF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Australian-listed Chemgenex Pharmaceuticals faces a new stage of development. Businessman Joseph Gutnick invested in gene discovery company, Autogen, in about 1999 but left the project in about 2002. It bought US company, Chemgenex Therapeutics, for its cancer drug in 2004. It has filed for approval in the US market without a licensing partner. The group has raised more cash but there are concerns about its financial position if the approval process is delayed. The company could now be a takeover target.


Biotechnology company Chemgenex (CXS.AX) is set to become one of the few Australian companies to have a drug filed for approval in the United States without help from a licensing partner. The cancer drug, Omacetaxine, should be out in the market next year, according to chief executive Greg Collier. The company is due to provide an update on progress in the drug's final-stage clinical trials today. Mr Collier says the drug may also be useful in a number of other applications. Page 50.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)