Zacks.com Announces That Nadine Wong Highlights the Following Stock: Millenium Pharmaceuticals

Business Wire, Sept 28, 2004

CHICAGO -- Nadine Wong is raising sales and earnings estimates for one cancer company, and explains why she expects 2005 to turn to profitability with upside from a massive pipeline. Read about Millenium Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MLNM). Nadine Wong is editor of the Biotech Stock Report newsletter. Click here for the full story exclusively on Zacks.com: http://at.zacks.com/?id=84

Here are the highlights from the Featured Expert column:

Millennium (NASDAQ:MLNM)

We've revised Millennium's target price from $15 to $17 based on Velcade sales reaccelerating in the late part of 2004 and low Integrilin expectations that are now priced into the stock. Millennium markets Velcade for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, which represents 10% of all malignant blood cancers, and Integrilin, the leading GP IIb-IIIa inhibitor for patients with severe cardiovascular disease. The company also has a pipeline of 10 novel drug candidates in early stages of clinical development.

Velcade sales should be bolstered by increased second-line multiple myeloma penetration following the positive APEX data announced at the June 2004 ASCO. The trial was halted one year early after an independent data monitoring committee concluded in an interim analysis that Velcade showed a statistically significant improvement in time-to-disease progression compared to high-dose dexamethasone. Based on these results, Millennium is expected to file an sNDA with the FDA for an expanded label in second-line multiple myeloma shortly.

Millennium is developing Velcade for other indications including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and other solid tumors including ovarian, prostate and breast cancers. In total, the company expects to have 80 trials in progress by year-end. Although Velcade has the potential to become a broad-spectrum anticancer agent, Velcade's strength lies in treating blood cancers. However, to expand Velcade use in other types of cancer, it needs to prove its full potential with additional data such as treating solid tumors. Potential other blood cancers include refractory follicular and mantle cell NHL. The company should decide to pursue a pivotal trial in NHL by early 2005 as well as a decision for a pivotal NSCLC trial by late 2004. While early efficacy signals in NHL and NSCLC were positive, results in colorectal cancer and chronic lymphocytic leukemia have been negative.

Read Nadine Wong's commentary, along with review of Millenium's entire product pipeline, by clicking: http://at.zacks.com/?id=85

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