Human Genome Sciences has partnered with GlaxosmithKline in testing LymphoStat-B to find a cure for MS, one of four autoimmune ailments that the two firms want to find a remedy.
HGS spokesman Jerry Parrott said the two companies plan to continue with late-stage trials using LumphoStat-B for lupus patients. By 2009 the partners are expected to finalize the data from their clinical trials as first step in submitting in early 2010 the medication to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval.
HGS executive vice president and chief commercial officer Barry Labinger, in a talk with analysts, quoted by the Washington Post, said, "When you talk to patients about their lupus experience, the side effects of treatments are as bad or worse than the treatment itself... Clearly there is a need for treatment to help patients lead a better quality of life."
Among the drugs that HGS is developing are for treatment of hepatitis C, anthrax ailment, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and HIV/AID. With its work using DNA, the company attracted over $1 billion in investments in 2000, but after the failure of its formulation in initial clinical trials, its stocks dipped significantly.
As of Thursday, HGS' stock was at $5.91 a share. It has not recovered from the drastic decline in the company's stock prices in January after news went around that large doses of its hepatitis C medication Albuferon had lung-related side effects.
After the analyst briefing, Christopher Raymond, biotechnology analyst of R.W. Baird, commented, quoted by the Washington Post, "One of the knocks on this company is that they have not had anything make it past the goal line... But they are very close with a number of exciting products."
