MY PICK IS ELN

[kingofthehill]

another good day for ELN 12 million shares traded closed at $8.99

[cbenj]

ELN up big today-thanks

Kingofthehill,

I bought ELN on Jan. 5 after your writeup. Was up 22% before today...and almost sold yesterday ahead of earnings, but decided to keep thru earnings.

Rewarded big today as ELN up almost 29% as I write this.

Just wanted to say thanks for the pick.

Ben

[mrmarket]

Kingofthehill is HUGE!

[stenzrob]

Kingofthehill is HUGE!

ELN volume was also HUGE.

[kingofthehill]

Thanks guys glad you made money this is just the first inning in the big leagues again for ELN... i sold alot of my calls for FEB and April but held the rest .. when SEC crap is over this should fly if you have the time ... listen to the replay of the CC call today ... congrats .. THANKS FOR CALM

great week with ELN and AWE

[kingofthehill]

https://www.bioworld.com

Biogen, Elan Planning Antegren Filing In MS With One-Year Data

By Kim Coghill



Washington Editor
Biogen Idec Inc. and partner Elan Corp. plc gained value Wednesday after telling Wall Street they intend to file the Antegren application for multiple sclerosis based on one-year data, as opposed to waiting for the traditional two-year data set to be completed.

Biogen Idec's stock (NASDAQ:BIIB) jumped $8.97 Wednesday, or 20.3 percent, to close at $53.23. Elan's stock (NYSE:ELN) rose $3, or 34.1 percent, close at $11.80.

The partners expect to submit the biologics license application for Antegren (natalizumab) as a treatment for multiple sclerosis in mid-2004. The companies said once it is filed and accepted they would have better insight into the pending action schedule, particularly regarding whether the BLA would be classified as a priority review.

The BLA will be based on two Phase III studies known as Affirm and Sentinel. Although both trials are two-year, randomized, multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies scheduled to be finished in the first quarter of 2005, the companies will plan the filing on the one-year data, Amy Brockelman, spokeswoman for Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen Idec, told BioWorld Today. The pre-specified primary endpoint at one year is relapse rates.

However, both trials will be taken to their two-year completion, Lars Ekman, executive vice president and president of research development at Dublin, Ireland-based Elan, said on a conference call Wednesday.

The the firms made the decision to file on a single year of data following recent discussions with the FDA.

"But to protect the integrity of the trials, we are not disclosing one-year data at this point," Ekman said. "As we have said before, there are no other MS therapies on the market that have been approved with less than two years worth of data. However, based on our discussions with the FDA, we believe the one year is sufficient to support the filing."

Indeed, Mike King, managing director at Banc of America Securities LLC in New York, told BioWorld Today that the data must be compelling if the companies are willing to file early.

"Biogen knows what it is doing in this department, so the data must be positive," he said. "But I think the question is, will the FDA break its precedent of how it approves drugs for MS, which is on two-year disability scores."

King added that Antegren has generated some excitement because of its novel mechanism of action. Discovered by Elan, Antegren, a humanized monoclonal antibody, is the first alpha-4 antagonist in the new selective adhesion molecule inhibitor class. The drug was designed to selectively inhibit immune cells from leaving the bloodstream and to prevent those cells from migrating into chronically inflamed tissue, which occurs in a variety of inflammatory diseases. To date, about 2,800 patients have received the product in clinical studies.

Aside from MS, the partners believe Antegren might be useful in Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or possibly other indications, Ekman said.

In fact, within the past month, the partners have released favorable information about the candidate in the other potential areas. After missing the primary endpoint in a Phase III trial of Antegren in Crohn's patients in July, the partners rebounded, conducted another Phase III and hit their target. The companies said in late January their 428-patient Crohn's Phase III trial, referred to as Enact-2 (Evaluation of Natalizumab as Continuous Therapy-2), hit its primary endpoint by maintaining a response in Crohn's patients. (See BioWorld Today, July 25, 2003, and Jan. 30, 2004.)

Days later, the companies said they filed an investigational new drug application to study Antegren in rheumatoid arthritis. A Phase II trial is on track to begin in the first half of 2004.

Meanwhile, the Phase III trials in MS march on. The 900-patient Affirm (Natalizumab Safety and Efficacy in Relapsing-Remitting MS) study will evaluate the ability of natalizumab to slow the progression of disability in MS and reduce the rate of clinical relapses. The Sentinel (Safety and Efficacy of Natalizumab in Combination with Avonex [Interferon beta-1a]) study will evaluate the effect of the combination of natalizumab and Avonex compared to treatment with Avonex alone in slowing the progression of disability and reducing the rate of clinical relapses. The primary endpoints for both Phase III two-year trials in MS are based on the Expanded Disability Status Scale and relapse rates.

Biogen Idec's Avonex was approved for MS in 1996.

The deal to develop Antegren in MS, Crohn's and RA is part of an agreement signed by Elan and Biogen (prior to Biogen's merger with Idec Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego) in 2000. Financial terms were not disclosed, Brockelman said.

[kingofthehill]

NICE CLOSE TODAY $13.50

[kingofthehill]

it not too late $17.00 close today ELN

buy it ...and dont look back

[kingofthehill]

ok guys last chance !! the stock is $17.11

just read this one page over the weekend

thats all i can say

http://www.tixx.com/lehman.htm

[stocks54]

Hello kingofthehill,

Congratulations for your pick. Do you think it's still a good buy?

Regards,

[kingofthehill]

yes i truely believe that this is the next DNA or close to it ..

should be $40 plus by year end based on fast track approval of Antegren

read this page from the Lehman Brothers presentation March 3

http://www.tixx.com/lehman.htm

for price targets look here this guy has been pretty close

http://messages.yahoo.com/bbs?action=m&board=7076797&tid=eln&mid=319658&sid=7076797

[stocks54]

Thanks,

[kingofthehill]

We are on our way to $40.00 ..plenty of room on the train..

[kingofthehill]

from Europe ... all prices are quoted in EURO

19/03/04
Elan’s shares double with a rise of 8%

By Kotaro Miyata
SHARES of Elan climbed as much as 8% as the Irish drugmaker’s executives met money managers in Europe to talk about the company’s prospects.


Elan’s Irish shares rose 90 cents to close at 15.30 in Dublin, giving the sharers their fifth straight gain, the longest streak since September. The stock reached its highest since April 3, 2002 and gained the third most in the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index.

Chief executive officer Kelly Martin and Lars Ekman, the company’s research chief, are meeting investors in Europe to “educate people who are interested in the company,’ said Anita Kawatra, a New York-based spokeswoman for Elan.





Kawatra said the executives weren’t providing any new information and declined to give further details.

Elan said last month that it will apply by July for US approval of Antegren, its multiple sclerosis drug, speeding potential clearance of the product by as much as a year. The shares have more than doubled since February 17, the day before the company made the announcement.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc analysts said last month that Antegren may generate $450m in sales and is Elan’s most promising new product.

Martin joined Elan as chief executive at the beginning of 2003 and is focusing on research to regain investor confidence after a US accounting probe.

Previously he was president of the International Private Client Group.

[freewayc]

I did my own DD after reading these posts and bought ELN at just over $13 . Thanks for the excellent pick King!!