update: ms drug death, selling pressure possible

For some reason, my earlier corrected post was removed from HC. Here it is again (if it is removed a second time, I wont post on this topic again):

ANP could come under selling pressure today because an MS drug made by Biogen and Elan Corp. was yesterday removed from sale because it caused the death of one patient and caused a serious disease in the central nervous system of another patient.

The removal of sale of the Biogen/Elan MS drug is very significant for ANP because the protien targeted by the Biogen/Elan drug is the same protein (VLA-4) being targeted by ANP's lead MS compound. Indeed, ANP have pinned their hopes for success on the back of the success of the Biogen/Elan drug. See ANP's 26 November 2004 ASX release.

In light of these new safety concerns, the results of ANP's phase I trials might now be treated as suspect by regulatory authorities. ANP may be forced to abandon the present IIa trials and conduct more comprehensive safety trials. At the very least, ANP's MS trials are likely to be put on hold until it is clear what precisely is causing death in the Biogen/Elan drug.

Further funding for ANP will be impossible without a satisfactory resolution of this issue. If it emerges that the very targeting/neutralisation of the VLA-4 protein itself is a cause of death/neurological disease in some patients, ANP will have to abandon its MS trials completely and would struggle to continue as a going concern.