Human Genome Sciences

Human Genome Sciences Inc. reported clinical trial data yesterday showing that Albuferon, a hepatitis C drug the Rockville biotech is developing, is comparable to a current therapy and may do less damage to patients' quality of life during treatment. It also had a benefit of particular interest in the United States, where a large percentage of patients are overweight: The drug appeared to work better in heavier people than its alternative, a drug called Pegasys made by Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. But Albuferon, one of two drugs the company is relying on for eventual revenue, also had higher rates of patient discontinuation because of adverse events - particularly at the higher dosing levels.

Vascular Genetics Inc., a Boston-based venture which is partially owned by Human Genome Sciences of Rockville, said yesterday that it has raised an undisclosed amount of money to fund its next human trials of a pioneering gene therapy for cardiovascular disease."

Human Genome Sciences Inc., the Rockville genomics research company gunning to become a bio-pharmaceutical player, said yesterday that it has raised $100 million in a private placement.The company, which posted a $12 million loss in its most recent quarter, plans to use a portion of the proceeds to speed development of several promising new medical treatments in the laboratory, said Steve Mayer, the company's chief financial officer.Bolstered by the new financing, the company hopes to seek clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration late this year or early next year to begin testing on humans up to two new experimental drug treatments, Mayer said.

An article in the Feb. 10 Business section inaccurately stated that two small human clinical trials of a protein-based drug to speed wound healing represent Human Genome Sciences Inc.'s first human drug trials. They represent the company's second and third trials. Also, the identity of the pharmaceutical company that has first rights to an option to co-develop and market the drug was inaccurate. Schering Plough holds the option.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 2/21/98

An article in the Feb. 10 Business section inaccurately stated that two small human clinical trials of a protein-based drug to speed wound healing represent Human Genome Sciences Inc.'s first human drug trials. They represent the company's second and third trials. Also, the identity of the pharmaceutical company that has first rights to an option to co-develop and market the drug was inaccurate. Schering Plough holds the option.The Sun regrets the errors.Human Genome Sciences Inc., the Rockville biotechnology firm, will announce today that it will start a small clinical trial within the next few weeks on a treatment it has developed to speed up the healing of wounds.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks rose yesterday for a second day, buoyed by low interest rates and a flood of cash into mutual funds.The Dow Jones industrial average gained 68.51, or 0.8 percent, to 8,868.32 -- and is up 12.14 percent so far this year.Maryland stocks rose, led by Human Genome Sciences Inc. and Visual Networks Inc. The Bloomberg Maryland stock index, a price-weighted list of companies with operations in the region, gained 1.12 to 240.96.Human Genome Sciences Inc rose $3.44 to $43.25.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. of Rockville said yesterday that it has increased its ownership stake in Vascular Genetics Inc. to 33.9 percent from 19.9 percent.Publicly held Human Genome, which launched Vascular Genetics last November in a venture with St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston and two other partners, said the increased stake resulted from a redistribution of original holdings of the founding shareholders and a cashless exercise of warrants it held.The redistribution was for research and other support services Human Genome provided Vascular Genetics.

Rockville-based Human Genome Sciences Inc. yesterday reported that profit rose slightly to $2.9 million in the second quarter, up from $2.6 million for the same period of 1996.On a per share basis, earnings were flat at 13 cents for both quarters.Revenue also showed a modest gain to $14.8 million from $13 million a year ago.Human Genome Sciences, which is studying human, plant and microbial genes and their roles in disease, is one of Maryland's more prominent biotechnology companies. This week, the Texas-based Bass family disclosed that it now owns 14.3 percent of the company's stock.

A Bass family investment group has raised its stake in Human Genome Sciences Inc. to 14.3 percent from 11.7 percent of common shares outstanding in the gene research company.In most recent trading, the Bass group bought 568,000 shares in the Rockville-based company for $30.42 to $31.02 each between Wednesday and Friday, boosting its total to 3.2 million shares, according to a Schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday.Although the Bass holding was disclosed in a first-time Schedule 13D, the group did not acquire its entire stake recently, the company spokeswoman said.

Rockville-based Human Genome Sciences Inc. announced yesterday its third-quarter loss narrowed to $3.7 million, or 17 cents a share.That figure is compared with a loss of $5.2 million, or 28 cents a share, for the three months ended Sept. 30 last year.Revenue for the quarter was flat at $6.5 million. The company has licensing agreements with several major pharmaceutical companies for access to its library of human and microbial genetic codes.For the nine-month period, however, Human Genome lost $12.9 million, or 61 cents a share, compared with earnings of $1.7 million, or 9 cents a share, last year as revenue shrank to $22.6 million from $33.4 million.

Last week's $400 million deal by Teva Pharmaceutical to buy CoGenesys Inc. will enrich CoGenesys insiders and create a great launching pad for the Rockville company's drugs. Some shareholders of Human Genome Sciences, however, wonder why they aren't getting more of the action. Two years ago Human Genome's president and chief financial officer started CoGenesys by taking some of Human Genome's best scientists and ideas out the door. Now, in this edition of "Flip This Biotech," they and others who invested with them will walk away with most of the money.

Shares in Human Genome Sciences Inc., a 15-year-old Rockville biotech company that has yet to get a drug on the market, plummeted to their lowest level since 1995 yesterday after disclosing that serious side effects emerged during a clinical trial of a potentially lucrative hepatitis treatment when patients received high doses. The share price dropped nearly $4.40 to $5.62, or almost 44 percent. Human Genome Sciences officials said they were still optimistic that Albuferon would win approval - and have market success - at a lower dose.

CoGenesys Inc., a Rockville biotech spun off from Human Genome Sciences Inc. in 2006, is being sold for $400 million to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Inc., an Israeli company that specializes in generic drugs, the companies announced yesterday. In a statement, Shlomo Yanai, Teva's president and chief executive officer, said Teva had decided it needed to grow in biopharmaceuticals, and was interested in CoGenesys for its "breadth of technologies and the depth of their team and pipeline."

Human Genome Sciences Inc. reported clinical trial data yesterday showing that Albuferon, a hepatitis C drug the Rockville biotech is developing, is comparable to a current therapy and may do less damage to patients' quality of life during treatment. It also had a benefit of particular interest in the United States, where a large percentage of patients are overweight: The drug appeared to work better in heavier people than its alternative, a drug called Pegasys made by Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. But Albuferon, one of two drugs the company is relying on for eventual revenue, also had higher rates of patient discontinuation because of adverse events - particularly at the higher dosing levels.

Maryland is no longer in the running for a flu vaccine manufacturing plant that would have added hundreds of new jobs, many of them entry level, a state representative confirmed yesterday. Though no official word has yet come from the plant's developer, Switzerland's Novartis AG, the state's secretary of business and economic develop- ment conceded that Maryland couldn't offer the incentives that other states could. "It's too expensive," said Aris Melissaratos, who accompanied Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his running mate, Kristen Cox, on a visit to Gaithersburg's Digene Corp.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. yesterday announced a $507 million collaboration with Switzerland's Novartis to develop and commercialize the Rockville biotech's hepatitis C drug, Albuferon. The announcement jolted trading of Human Genome's stock, with shares moving at more than five times the normal volume. Shares rose 41 cents, or 4 percent, to close at $10.60 on the Nasdaq yesterday. Such partnerships are becoming more common in the drug development world. Smaller biotech concerns are often idea-rich, but cash-poor, while big pharmaceutical companies are often in the opposite camp, looking to partner with others to further their drug portfolio.

Shares of Human Genome Sciences Inc. fell nearly 30 percent yesterday, the second-biggest percentage decliner on the Nasdaq stock market, after the Rockville biotech company reported disappointing clinical trial results for an experimental lupus treatment. The company's stock closed at $9.87, down from $13.97 a day earlier. With nearly 50 million shares sold yesterday, it traded at 20 times its average volume. That made Human Genome the fourth-most-active stock on the Nasdaq, between computer giants Microsoft Corp.

Dean J. Mitchell's phone rings every day, with people calling from his old pharmaceutical stomping grounds to talk about one of two things: what it's like in the "wilds" of biotech and whether he's hiring. His first answer: "It's like doing the high-wire act without a safety net." His second: "Yes." Over the past decade, many - like Mitchell - have left the pharmaceutical industry for the less-established field of biotechnology, which some scientists believe will make the world's next big medical breakthroughs.

In The Region Human Genome's losses widen for quarter and year Human Genome Sciences Inc., a Rockville drug development company, reported a drop in fourth-quarter and annual revenues as well as a loss for both the quarter and the year yesterday. For the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31, revenue fell to $800,000 from $4.6 million a year earlier. Annual sales dropped 54 percent to $3.8 million from $8.2 million in 2003. The net loss for the quarter increased nearly a third to $66.7 million - or 51 cents per share - from $48.9 million, or 38 cents per share, a year ago. The year's net loss increased as well, to $242.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. hired a longtime veteran of Abbott Laboratories Inc. as its new chief executive officer yesterday, the second Maryland biotechnology firm in a week to reach outside the company for new leadership. Rockville-based Human Genome Sciences said its founder, William A. Haseltine, who retired last month, would be succeeded as CEO by H. Thomas Watkins. Watkins, 51, joins Human Genome after having spent most of the past two decades with pharmaceutical giant Abbott Labs and its affiliates.