Tough Week

NicOx SA (NCOX.F) ABPM Trial Shows Favorable Blood Pressure Profile For Naproxcinod; Drug Misses Study Goal
Genta Incorporated (GNTA) Provides Update On Genasense(R) Phase 3 Trial; Leukemia Drug Misses Key Goal, Stock Drops
DOV Pharmaceutical Announces Termination Of License Agreement With Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK)
Coley Pharmaceutical Group Amends Strategic Alliance License Agreement With GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) For VaxImmune(TM) Vaccine Adjuvant ... More
Novacea (NOVC) Says CEO Resigns, Names Interim CEO ... More

Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc. (NSTK) Says $15 Million Payment From Procter & Gamble (PG) Deferred

Pfizer Chief Medical Officer Joe Feczko announced that the company was immediately canceling all trials of torcetrapib because it had sharply boosted the death rate of patients in a 15,000 patient trial.

Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation (CT) And Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ONXX) Release: Phase III Trial Of Nexavar In Patients With Advanced Melanoma Does Not Meet Primary Endpoint

3M Company (MMM) To Cut 400 Headquarters Jobs, Outsource Support Work; 3M Pharmaceuticals (MMM) To Change Name

ImaRx Therapeutics Cancels IPO Due To Market Conditions

ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (PFSCF.PK) Cancels UK Unit IPO, Says Price Could Rise

Forbes Medi-Tech Inc., a maker of drugs for lowering high cholesterol, said Monday preliminary results from a mid-stage clinical trial of drug candidate FM-VP4 fell short of the company's goals.

ImClone Systems Inc. chief scientific officer Philip Frost resigned Friday, according to a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Evolutec Ltd Release: Primary Endpoint Not Met In Phase IIb rEV131 Trial In Allergic Rhinitis

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Reports Results From A Clinical Trial Of Oral Nalmefene in Pathological Gambling; Drug Fails In Study

Next week will bring more failure, job cuts, and reduced investment. The times are changing and biotech needs to start working smarter. The big pharmaceutical companies need to buy up well established drug programs. The place to be is somewhere near phase III trials in the lucrative disease areas, cholesterol control, type II diabetes, osteoporosis and pain management.

The message is clear. As a smaller company you must not set out to save the human race from disease. You must save the pharmaceutical giants from their own pending doom. The industry is sick and they need the next Lipitor or Viagra. Americans live very unhealthy lives. You must give them pills to offset their inability to take care of their health. If your drug falls too close to the margin of error you might just miss your clinical trial endpoints or even worse, end up killing people like Pfizer. Think carefully when choosing your pipeline. Do not create new drug classes. Cox-2 inhibitors and CETL inhibitors, although proven dangerous, can still become big sellers. It's tough to decide with so much conflicting data but that is what will keep you going for years to come. Even if you fail, you will have made a buck or two.

As for the investor... we have plenty new drugs for you to invest in. Good ones. Maybe some day you could visit our labs down in the swamps of Georgia. It won't be hard to get around down there. We're purchasing the Brooklyn Bridge and having it shipped down. By the way, could you help us offset the cost of that?