Monday's Briefs: CVM, AGEN, KERX

CVM: Last week I had the opportunity to visit Cel Sci's new, state of the art Multikine production facility near Baltimore, MD. During the visit, I was given a tour of the interior by Dr. Eyal Talor and Mr. W. Brooke Jones of Cel Sci Corp. Upon the completion of my visit, I came to the conclusion that the company's previously announced time frame for validation of the facility (of fourth quarter, 2009) was on target.

The tour was arranged on the efforts of BioMedReports and Cel Sci and a complete report from my tour inside the facility can be read on the BioMedReports web site.

During the tour I saw nothing that would incline me to alter my stance of playing CVM as a 'buy the dips' stock; and I continue to have confidence in the fact that news regarding the commencement of the long-awaiting Multikine Phase III trial is not too far away.

Aside from the pending Multikine trial, any news regarding the L.E.A.P.S. swine flu treatment could also serve as a price mover for CVM.

I'll continue to accumulate CVM for the long term.

Disclosure: VFC is long CVM.



AGEN: After last week's forty percent drop in price, Antigenics issued an early morning press release on Monday announcing promising results for the company's Phase II trial that will measure the effectiveness of Oncophage in treating patients with recurrent high grade glioma (brain cancer).

Data from the first twenty patients treated with Oncophage demonstrated a median survival of 10.1 months, well above the historic average of 6.5 months, and slightly better than Avastin's 9.2 months. However, Oncophage gets a leg up in terms of 'quality of life' (side effects), according to the press release - an important issue for patients, as we learned from the powerful patient lobby that came to the forefront during the Provenge trials.

I'll continue adding shares of AGEN with a long term outlook, although I'll get more excited about the glioma trials as the Phase II draws to an end and the outlook moves to a Phase III success.

As for the status of Oncophage in Europe - I'm not certain that we're at the end of that road. Let's see what the EMEA has to say in November and then look at the chances of Antigenics being able to provide a valid argument for appeal. Last weeks verbal negative opinion definitely puts the time frame for a possible return in stock price off by a little while, but it doesn't kill the long term potential of the stock by any means.

Dendreon and the Provenge story showed us that cancer immunotherapy treatments are just as much a political issue as a medical one, especially when it's the small biotech companies developing products that can tear into the profits of big pharma; and had it not been for the patient lobby behind Provenge and the conflicts of interest that arose with two Doctors on the FDA's Advisory Committee, I'm not so sure that Dendreon would be primed for the success that it looks like that company will realize with a Provenge approval next year.

However, I still believe that cancer immunotherapy treatments are the next big thing for cancer treatment, although I also don't believe that the full potential of the vaccines will be realized until they can be tested in patients who still have an immune system that is not already torn apart, beat down and weakened by late stages of cancer and chemotherapy treatments. Just my opinion, of course.

I'm adding AGEN on the dips; however, I'll somewhat temper my accumulation for the time being until I see if the stock drops to sub-$1, a possibility, in my opinion, if additional promising news is not released this week leading into the earnings report.

Disclosure: VFC is long AGEN.



KERX: As shares of KERX dip down towards the $2 mark, it may be a good time to accumulate for the long term; especially if the price of the stock were to dip below the $2 mark.

In the meantime, the company announced on Monday that abstract data from the recently-concluded Phase 2 trial of Zerenex will be presented on October 29th at the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Renal Week Meeting in San Diego.

The meeting will most likely not impact the KERX share price at all since the data has already been released by the company. The next price movers for KERX, in my opinion, will be news regarding or a start date for the pending Phase III trials.

I'm still accumulating KERX, but I'll pick up the accumulation if we see a price below $2 again during the 'down time'.

Disclosure: VFC is long KERX.