Medical Meeting Alert: Diabetes

• June 18, 2001
• Paul Ruggieri

The
American Diabetes Association will hold its annual scientific meeting
starting June 22. This meeting will
highlight the companies involved in many of the new emerging technologies and
treatment approaches toward diabetes, an enormous medical problem throughout the
world. Diabetes affects 16
million Americans in this country, with the majority diagnosed with Type II, or
adult-onset diabetes. There are 800,000
new cases diagnosed each year and close to 200,000 diabetic-related deaths as
well. Needless to say, this is a major
medical problem and a multibillion-dollar market for any company ready to stake
a claim with a new technology or treatment.

This meeting is the
meeting for companies to showcase what they have and I expect several to pique
investor interest before and during the meeting.
I also expect the positive news coming out of this meeting by next week
to buoy the biotech sector as a whole, since the entire sector tends to move
when specific companies present positive clinical data in growing markets.
Diabetes is one of those growing markets, along with cancer and heart
disease. When it comes to biotech, a
rising tide does lift all boats.  

When it comes to the
treatment of diabetes, what should you specifically look for in company
presentations that will arouse investor interest?
I would look for companies presenting data on new, more efficient ways to
deliver insulin to the body or measure glucose levels with minimal trauma to the
skin. Insulin delivery is a very
lucrative market and companies that can safely and efficiently deliver insulin
without the trauma of a needle stick will gain a lot of attention. 

Companies making
presentations in this arena include Minimed
(
MNMD |
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medical device company Medtronic
(
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Minimed will present clinical data on its implantable insulin delivery
system in humans and data on its delivery and external sensor system in dogs.
 

Inhale Therapeutics

(
INHL |
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clinical data on its lead product that delivers insulin via inhaler and avoids a
needle stick outright. Inhale
Therapeutics is co-developing this with Pfizer. The
company is also focusing on delivering other drugs to treat other diseases via
inhaler. Antares Pharmaceuticals

(
ANTR |
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will also take the stage in presenting data on its needle-free insulin delivery
system.

What about the
direct treatment of diabetes and companies involved in new drugs to treat
insulin that might avoid or decrease the need for an insulin injection?
Amylin Pharmaceuticals
(
AMLN |
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over the next five weeks with its new drug Symlin. 
The drug has been shown to lower the HgA1c level in the blood over a year
period when given with insulin, and reduce insulin requirements. 
HgA1c is the way doctors monitor how well a patient’s diabetes is being
controlled in the long-term. In addition
to having a presence at the meeting, the company is anxiously awaiting the
FDA’s Endocrine Advisory Committee vote on July 26.
This crucial vote will determine whether Symlin eventually comes
to market, become Amylin’s first product, and
generates revenue.

Neurocrine
BioSciences
(
NBIX |
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for Type I or Insulin-dependent Diabetes.  The
company will present Phase I data on a new drug it is developing.
The drug appears safe and well tolerated in the Phase I trials.
This in itself may not garnish much investor attention, since it is only
a Phase I trial and does not unveil efficacy. However,
the company has several new and exciting drugs in development for other growing
disease markets and may be a sleeper. 

Another growth
sector of the diabetes market involves the treatment of complications of
diabetes. Diabetic complications range
from foot ulcers to impotence, are difficult to treat, and a major dollar strain
on the healthcare industry. Advanced
Tissue Sciences
(
ATIS |
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treat diabetic foot ulcers, a common source of morbidity in patients.
In addition, Medtronic
(
MDT |
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the treatment of diabetic gastroparesis, a slowing of the stomach’s ability to
empty after eating. This is a growing
problem and Medtronic’s may have a solution with its implantable stomach
stimulator.

Last, but not least,
is impotence or erectile dysfunction. Impotence
is a major problem in diabetic men due to the nature of their disease. 
Pfizer’s blockbuster Viagra has helped, but there is need for a
new drug. Icos Corporation

(
ICOS |
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PowerRating),
fresh off its presentations at the American Urological Association, will present
favorable Phase III clinical data on the treatment of impotence with its new
drug Cialis.

On a final note,
there is a company presenting a small paper on its research into a hormone
involved in fat metabolism. Obesity is a
major health problem in the U.S., particularly in diabetic patients.
There is no effective drug treatment for the disease and none in the
foreseeable future. Millennium
Pharmaceuticals
(
MLNM |
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PowerRating), a leader in the genomics revolution, may bring that
future a step closer with its discussion of a potential compound crucial to the
understanding of how fat is metabolized.      

Until my next
update,

Paul

I have been
investing/trading in medical and biotechnology stocks for years. The one common
theme is that this is a high risk/reward endeavor. When you are correct, many
times you are richly rewarded. When you are wrong, you can be badly punished.
Please keep this in mind and hedge/protect yourself appropriately when
trading/investing in these stocks.