Incyte (INCY) and Agenus (AGEN) announced an amendment of the License, Development and Commercialization Agreement that was originally agreed upon by the two firms on January 9, 2015. The amended converts the ongoing antibodies targeting GITR and OX40 programs from co-funded development and profit-sharing arrangements to royalty-bearing programs. In the 2015 agreement, both firms decided to work together on the INCAGN1876 (anti-GITR agonist) and INCAGN1949 …

Prohost Letter #404 Part 2 Synthetic Biology (2) A Brief History DNA is the software of life. This is how Synthetic Genomics firm, which we believe is now is the leading biotech firm for applied synthetic biology. Synthetic Genomics is still a private firm in spite of that thousands of investors are impatiently waiting for it to turn public and it will. So stay tuned. …

Prohost Letter #403 Part 2 Continued From Wednesday Instead of continuing yesterday article about Agenus, we decided to post it all so that the reader can find it in one place. Important changes and additions have been made especially under the headline “Near-­Term Priorities, Possibilities and Catalysts”, which are important to read. Learning More About AGENUS Since its inception, Agenus (AGEN), previously known as Antigenics, …

ProhostLetter #403 Part 1 On December 8, 2016 under News & Comments Prohost commented on President Elect Trump’s statement that he is going to bring down the exorbitant drug prices. The Skyrocketing Prices of Drugs Like everybody else we happen to talk to, we agree that the prices of drugs have skyrocketed to a level that made them unaffordable. It is a serious problem that …

There is nothing wrong with Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR). The stock is temporarily underperforming as traders are practicing their conviction that they must sell when a firm finances through dilution. The traders practice this law of thumb regardless of whether the financing aims at bringing wealth or invites for a catastrophe. We believe Nektar is walking the road towards creating wealth and growth through continued development …

ANOTHER MISLEADING STORY  This article was corrected after being posted. Read our apology at the end of the article. Forecasting exaggerated impact of negative-looking news has stricken GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) shareholders today, while enchanting Merck’s (MRK) shareholders. GSK said that: “Used as a single therapy”, its checkpoint immunotherapy drug Opdivo has failed a trial for newly diagnosed lung cancer patients. GSK said that the Checkmate-026 study has not met its primary …

GRAFT VERSUS HOST DISEASE (GVHD) INCYTE (INCY) HAS SEVERAL GOOD NEWS. As a matter of fact, Incyte has exciting news coming from innumerable activities strategized by the firm’s dynamic management. The first good news came from the FDA, granting Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Jakafi® (ruxolitinib) for the treatment of patients with acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). There are currently no approved treatments for GVHD. Breakthrough Therapy …

Le CompaGnon Part 1 TUESDAY June 14, 2016 The Eternal Market Games Unfortunately, the fabrication and misrepresentation of reality in media articles about member firms of the biotech sector succeeded in devastating promising companies having exceptional technologies and products. The damages went far beyond investors unwarranted losses. The damages were grave as to ruin of many firms. Indeed, many promising firms were forced to declare …

Agenus (AGEN) announced that a lead product candidate is selected under its license and research collaboration with Merck, which is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Merck has selected a lead antibody candidate and several backup antibodies, discovered by Agenus, to an undisclosed Merck checkpoint target. Agenus received a $2 million milestone payment from Merck. According to the terms of the agreement, …

CANCER Everyday something new is discovered that explains cancer behavior, including proliferation, response to treatment, resistance to treatment, metastasis, recurrence, etc. Today we have several news, including one that might have cleared a puzzle regarding a continuous growth of colon cancer after oncologists block a well known signaling molecule recognized as playing a major role in making, not breaking the cancer. We also have news …

Underestimating the Value of Drugs that Disrupt the DNA Repair Mechanisms in Cancer Cells. AstraZeneca’s (AZN) Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said that while DNA damage response was under-recognized by investors, oncologists were already “very excited” by its potential of the drugs targeting DNA repair mechanisms inside cancer cells. According to AstraZeneca, drugs that disrupt the DNA repair mechanisms inside cancer cells are showing tangible promise for …

Prohost Letter #395 On the Road TO DEFEATING CANCER - Results of cancer treatment with novel immunotherapy drugs suggest that the hope of conquering cancer has improved from doubtful to conceivable. Immunotherapy treatments are scoring unprecedented successes against a wide variety of malignancies, including liquid cancers, solid cancers, cancers with DNA mutations caused by viruses and other cancer-causing agents. The two Immunotherapy approaches are currently occupying …

Biotech NEWS   AGENUS Agenus’ First Checkpoint Inhibitor to reach Clinical Trial The first patient has been dosed in Agenus (AGEN) Phase 1 clinical trial of its checkpoint inhibitor product AGEN1884. The open-label, multicenter trial in patients with advanced or refractory cancer is designed to evaluate the safety of AGEN1884 and determine the estimated maximum tolerated dose. AGEN1884 is an anti-CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4) checkpoint …

The Diagnosed Dead Is Far from Dying Xoma (XOMA): Stock rallied following report announcing an upfront payment from Novartis, which multiplied the firm’s revenues 10 times over 2014. Novartis paid Xoma $37 million, Novo Nordisk paid $5 million and Pfizer paid the firm a little less than $4 million. CEO John Varian said, “Novel antibodies and technologies created by XOMA scientists to target diseases such as …

Prohost Letter #393 IMMUNOTHERAPY - PROHOST PORTFOLIO - NEW PICKS? - A Brief Reminder of the CAR T –TCR Immunotherapy Approaches In this issue we continue our journey inside the territory of cancer immunotherapy. We remind that in the Prohost Letter issue #391, we dealt with the immunotherapy based on genetically engineered T Cells, enabling them to seek out, attack and neutralize cancer cells. The immune system’s T …

Agenus (AGEN) is a project in the making since the firm has decided to play an integral part in immuno-oncology, doing everything possible towards building checkpoint modulator antibodies, in addition to its protective and therapeutic vaccines. Missing analysts’ expectation by one cent, which leads to stocks’ punishment has become an accepted routine, satisfying daily traders and other investors. The substance, however, which  interests us, is in …

When you do your due diligence, you do not lose your faith in what you believed in giving up to the hype that’s sprayed around you. We were happy today to hear Array BioPharma (ARRY) report that results from the Phase 3 NEMO clinical trial of binimetinib in patients with advanced NRAS-mutant melanoma. The trial met its primary endpoints. We are happy, but not surprised, …

Prohost Letter #388 TOPICS - 1. AN INDISPENSABLE SHORT INTRODUCTION 2. GENE EDITING 3. GENE THERAPY 4. CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY 1. GENE EDITING Exon Skipping: Biomarin (BMRN); Sarepta (SRPT); These firms are waiting FDA approvals for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) Gene Editing Technology Competitors: Cellectis S.A. (CLLS); CRISPR; PTC Therapeutics (PTCT) Firms Using Different Approaches For DMD Treatment (see Below) Zink Finger Tech: Sangamo (SGMO); RNAi …

Prohost Letter #385 An Evaluation of Prohost Picks and Some Other Interesting Biotechnology Companies The Top-Tier Group The indiscriminate attack on the biotech sector impacted the best biotech firms more than it did the worst. In other words, the attack devastated the undervalued, without correcting the stock price of overvalued, or even valueless, firms. The problem is that those who instigate computer programs selling of …

Prohost Letter #383 The Market - Recent tails about the market and the biotech sector are true thrillers. By true we mean no-fiction. The accounts lack common sense. Professionals' interpretations of the stocks' and of the market's moves are bizarre and misleading. General investors complain only when the stocks' volatility gets out of hand, yet, do not object to the hype, or interferes against the baseless …