Antisoma (LSE: ASM.L - news) shares could double if the ovarian cancer drug, R1549, is successful, and halve if it is not says the Independent. Given the probability of success, reckoned to be about 65%, that looks a gamble worth taking says the paper.

London, UK, and Los Angeles, CA: 16 April 2007- Antisoma announces
that preclinical data supporting three of its drugs are presented
this week at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer
Research (AACR).

AS1404-Avastin-paclitaxel triple combination highly effective
Antisoma's scientists have for the first time evaluated a triple
combination of the Company's vascular disrupting agent, AS1404, the
anti-angiogenic Avastin and the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel. The
triple combination had powerful and synergistic (more than additive)
anti-tumour effects in a human lung cancer xenograft model. Moreover,
addition of Avastin and paclitaxel to AS1404 did not increase
toxicity.

These observations build on previous xenograft findings showing a
synergistic effect with an AS1404-paclitaxel combination. That effect
translated into a substantial survival benefit in a phase II trial in
non-small cell lung cancer. Preparations are being made for a pivotal
phase III trial combining AS1404 with chemotherapy in lung cancer.
The market opportunity in this setting is large, and would be further
extended if AS1404 also proved effective when added to an
Avastin-chemotherapy combination.

Synergistic effect of AS1404 combined with Erbitux
In a second combination study, AS1404 showed synergistic anti-tumour
effects with Erbitux in a lung cancer model. These findings, together
with the Avastin data, show that AS1404 has potential in combination
with newer, targeted therapies as well as longer established
treatments such as chemotherapies.

Broad potential of AS1411 alone and in combination
New data show that the aptamer drug AS1411 kills cells from a wide
variety of cancer cell lines. These include lines representing the
four most common cancers: lung, breast, prostate and colorectal; as
well as renal, gastric, pancreatic, melanoma, glioblastoma and
certain blood cancer lines. Doses lethal to cancer cells had no
effect on a fibroblast cell line representing normal, healthy tissue.

Separate experiments highlight the potential to combine AS1411 with
other treatments. When AS1411 was used together with paclitaxel or
cytarabine, synergistic killing was seen in a number of cancer cell
lines.

New light is shed on the anti-cancer action of AS1411. The drug
clearly induces apoptosis (programmed cell death). There are,
however, differences from the killing pattern seen with many
cytotoxic drugs, which generally achieve their maximum effect
rapidly. By contrast, AS1411 acts more slowly, continuing to cause
further cell death over a period of days.

AS1411 has completed phase I development, where it was shown to be
very well-tolerated and produced two objective responses in
late-stage renal cancer patients. Phase II trials in renal cancer and
acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) are now planned and the drug may
ultimately have potential against a variety of solid and blood
cancers.

Preclinical support for AS1409 trial plans
Antisoma recently announced that its forthcoming phase I trial of
AS1409, an antibody-cytokine fusion protein, would enrol patients
with renal cancer and melanoma. An AACR poster presents the data
which supported this choice, showing strong expression of the drug's
target in both of these cancer types.

Glyn Edwards, Antisoma's CEO, said: "Our AACR presentations
illustrate the strength and breadth of our pipeline and highlight a
number of ways to further expand the commercial opportunities for our
key products, AS1404 and AS1411."

Antisoma says successfully tests cancer drugs in combination with others

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=1903770

Blue
Posted at the same time, all still looking good 1 next target.

No problem driver,

I have read the AFX report but I know that in theory we are not allowed to paste it due to copyright infringement so I did the other one!!!!

Blue
I don't think there is a problem, it is on this site after all.

400k buy today is there news soon?

Certainly was Driver!

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/20070419064500H9831.html

Steve

Good news as Steve said.

Antisoma to get 100 mln usd near-term in licensing deal with Novartis UPDATE
AFX

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Antisoma plc said it stands to receive near term payments of 100 mln usd under an exclusive global licensing agreement signed with Novartis AG for its vascular disrupting agent AS1404 (DMXAA).

Some 75 mln usd will be paid immediately and a further 25 mln when AS1404 enters a phase III trial in lung cancer.

Antisoma will be eligible for total upfront, development, regulatory and sales-related milestone payments of up to 890 mln usd, depending upon a number of factors including successful development and marketing of AS1404 in

multiple indications, launch of back-up products and achievement of sales milestones.

Antisoma will also benefit from Novartis part-funding its commercialisation costs if AS1404 gets to market. Under the deal with Novartis, if AS1404 is approved and commercialised, Antisoma will receive royalties on AS1404 sales and will have an option to co-commercialise AS1404 in the United States.

The group said the deal with Novartis is an important step along the way to making Antisoma a significant and self-sustaining bio-pharmaceutical company.

It said it plans an active programme of in-licensing and to examine opportunities to acquire other oncology companies.

Antisoma is also continuing to evaluate a potential US listing which it said would broaden the capital base supporting the company's development.

The board said it intends to continue to develop AS1411 independently and will also consider potential sales synergies when seeking new assets for the pipeline.

Antisoma said its board intends to discuss its plans with shareholders and resolutions supporting the plans will be put to an EGM.

They will include a renewal of the company's authority to issue new shares up to around a third of the issued number. The board is also minded to seek a renewal of its authority to issue shares for cash in a non-pre-emptive issue, it said. This would provide flexibility, for example to offer new shares as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) should the board decide to list the company in the US.

Looking forwards, chairman Barry Price said the period ahead will be an exciting one.

'We have formed a great partnership with Novartis to develop and commercialise AS1404. Further important phase II data on AS1404 are expected this year. Other drugs in our pipeline, notably AS1411, are showing real promise. We are now very well equipped to acquire and develop new products and to continue to grow the business.'

Yep been waiting a long time for this ASM have pulled of a very good deal for them and us, the sp could double or treble from here over the next year or so.

There has been some very large buys today I can see this moving slowly up over the next few weeks as investors see the future potential of ASM, with more products in the pipe line.

Looks like 60p is acting as resistance, and I guess short-term holders have been taking profits too.

Steve

There was 3*1m buys today and a lot of over 100k's that's good enough for me this is a hold or accumulate.

More profit-taking today, or a closing of yesterday's gap up? I must admit, I thought this would have ticked up today. I guess the volume is comparatively low.
Anybody know if the Novartis news was in today's papers?

Steve

The Times -Buy
April 20, 2007
Antisoma

It has been a rough ride, at times, for shareholders in this biotechnology group. The share price quadrupled between autumn 2003 and spring 2004 as the market enjoyed promising news flow. In April 2004, however, the shares collapsed when it encountered setbacks in its research programme and the dissolution of a development deal with Roche.

Confidence began to be rebuilt with a successful cash call in late 2005 and news yesterday of a new link, this time with Novartis, has helped the stock recover lost ground.

The Novartis deal, including 50 million in upfront and near-term payments, secures Antisomas finances for the forseeable future and opens potential market opportunities in the US. Hopes are that Antisoma will be able to bring forward several compounds, designed to treat different cancers. As with many biotechs, the risks are high. But so are the rewards. Buy

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article1680463.ece

Independent

Antisoma soars on Novartis deal to develop cancer drug
By Karen Attwood
Published: 20 April 2007


Biotechnology company Antisoma closed a deal worth up to $890m (445m) with Swiss drug giant Novartis yesterday to develop its lead product, an anti cancer drug which is to enter final stage trials for lung cancer next year.

Shares initially jumped 19 per cent, before settled back to finish the day 10 per cent ahead at 57.75p, giving the company a market capitalisation of 257m.

Antisoma will receive $75m upfront and an additional $25m when its compound AS1404 enters into phase three trials in lung cancer at the beginning of next year. The drug is designed to be used alongside traditional chemotherapy, and clinical studies have shown it extends patient survival by five months.

The deal comes as welcome news for the company after Swiss firm Roche, which has a drug discovery alliance with Antisoma, dropped the compound last year, saying it had failed to live up to early expectations.

Future milestone payments are dependent on the successful development and marketing of the treatment for other types of cancer. The London-based company will also receive royalties on sales of the drug and will have an option to commercialise the drug in the US. Novartis will assume the management and all costs of the future development of AS1404.

Glyn Edwards, Antisoma's chief executive, said he was "very confident this would be a blockbuster product with the potential for strong sales". However, part of the attraction of the deal was that it would also provide extra resources for Antisoma to develop as a standalone company, he said. "We plan to use it as a springboard to further expand our pipeline and to exploit the value in our present portfolio."

Antisoma has six compounds in early stage development. Chief operating officer Dr Ursual Ney added: "We have a healthy pipeline but the deal with Novartis is allowing us to strengthen the pipeline and to buy more products for us to develop."

Samir Devani, analyst at Nomura Code, said that while expectations in the market were high the company has more than delivered. "The Novartis deal substantially strengthens Antisoma's cash position and the company has indicated that it will now look to in-license further oncology candidates and that this may include company acquisitions," he added.

Sam Fazeli, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, said he expects a series of value-driving news from Antisoma over the next year, including data from trials from other cancer drugs.

There have been a few profit takers since the deal but Im not tempted this could be a three bagger from just waiting patiently .

According to other followers of the group, todays deal will fund the development of AS1411, which could be a massive blockbuster and has already shown it is hugely effective in phase I trials, which are only supposed to monitor safety and dosing.

A nice recovery over the last couple of days now 56.25

London, UK: 2 May 2007 - Cancer drug developer Antisoma plc (LSE:
ASM; USOTC: ATSMY) today announces that it will convene an
Extraordinary General Meeting

http://www.antisoma.com/admin/data/datFiles/pdf/EGMNoM.pdf

From Therapeutics Daily:

Antisoma's $100M Novartis Deal Puts VDA Approach In Spotlight
BioWorld Financial Watch - May. 07, 2007

Though more than 10 years old, the concept of "disruptive technology" holds strong appeal, and in biotech vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) occupy a rising-star approach first discovered even longer ago.
Last month's licensing deal, which gives Antisoma plc $75 million up front from Novartis AG for rights to AS1404 and $25 million more when Phase II lung-cancer trials with the compound start early next year, brought fresh attention to the VDA space - and a renewed licking of chops by investors.
Antisoma's backers might have felt disillusioned less than a year ago, when longtime partner F. Hoffmann-LaRoche Inc. bowed out of its plan to usher AS1404 into Phase III trial, blaming "commercial reasons" for the move. (The composition-of-matter patent for AS1404 expires in 2011.) But Antisoma promised a juicy deal on the way, and Novartis stepped up.
The deal could provide as much as $890 million in milestone payments to Antisoma plus royalties, and Novartis will fund all future development as well as Phase II trials now under way.
Included in the milestone payments are approvals in four oncology indications. Novartis has shown its marketing muscle through Gleevec (imatinib), its compound for chronic myeloid leukemia. Also in the milestones package is an undisclosed non-oncology condition, most likely in ophthalmology, as Novartis outside the U.S. markets Lucentis (ranibizumab), Genentech Inc.'s therapy for age-related macular degeneration, and VDAs are being actively explored in that disease. Antisoma is retaining rights to co-commercialize the flavonoid AS1404.
Plans for the compound entail the Phase III study in front-line, squamous non-small cell lung cancer and supporting studies in lung and other cancers. The NSCLC bid goes after the sector of the market not covered by the label for the VEGF inhibitor Avastin (bevacizumab), from Genentech Inc.,cleared for NSCLC in the fall of last year. If AS1404's Phase II data merit, the compound will move into Phase III trials in prostate and ovarian tumors as well.
VDAs might be regarded as the (so far) quieter counterpart to headline-making anti-angiogenesis drugs. Whereas the latter block formation of tumor blood vessels, VDAs target vessels already established, collapsing the endothelial cells in place.
Kobi Sethna, president and CEO of the much earlier-stage VDA player Nereus Pharmaceuticals Inc. likened the scans of VDA-attacked tumors to "donut holes," and told BioWorld Financial Watch that cardiotoxicity hampered the first generation VDAs' ability to chew tumors from within. AstraZeneca plc, for example, discontinued work on its VDA known as ZD6126.
The picture has changed in recent years. AS1404's profile looks clean, as does the profile for NPI-2358, one of about 200 synthetic analogues made by Nereus from a marine fungal extract. A Phase I trial against solid tumors launched last summer.
Antisoma is doing well. Behind AS1404 is a novel aptamer dubbed AS1411, seized in the early 2005 buyout of Aptamera Inc. in an all-share deal that valued the privately held firm at 11.5 million (then US$21.5 million). Early data suggest activity in renal cancer and acute myeloid leukemia. Phase II trials are expected to start late this year and early next. UK-based Antisoma ended the second half of this year with about 33.6 million (US$67 million) in cash and equivalents, not counting the upfront payment from Novartis, with a loss for the period of 6.4 million.
Others with VDAs include Myriad Genetics Inc., which started the first Phase II trial with its compound called Azixa for brain cancer in March. Like Nereus' drug, Azixa seems to work as a cytotoxin as well. The first stage of the Azixa study will include about 16 patients.
MediciNova Inc. has the VDA known as MN-029 ready to start Phase II/III studies in ovarian and NSCLC by the end of this year. The compound came from Angiogene Pharmaceuticals Ltd., which holds a worldwide license. Abbott also has a VDA, the sulfonamide ABT-751, in Phase II trials for lung, colon, breast and kidney cancers, and Bionomics Ltd. is doing preclinical work with the VDA tagged BNC105.
A higher-profile VDA force to reckon with is Oxigene Inc., which has CA4P (combretastatin A4 phosphate). The drug proved its mettle last year in Phase II trials against thyroid cancer, with chemotherapy and without. In February, CA4P yielded positive top-line Phase II data against myopic AMD, too. Full results were due for unveiling at the Association for Research In Vision and Ophthalmology meeting, which started over the weekend.
Oxigene is finalizing a Phase III study with CA4P in anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), with first dosing expected in the second quarter of this year. The firm is expected to test CA4P when combined with chemo agents, as compared to chemo alone, in 100 to 200 patients. After Avastin's clearance in NSCLC, Oxigene backed away from that indication as the first Phase III trial, and went with ATC instead.
Amgen Inc. is working in thyroid cancer, too - and during the conference call on first quarter earnings last month, officials said they had decided not to file for approval of AMG-706 for thyroid cancer after Phase II trial with the compound in about 180 patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease who are not candidates for radioactive iodine or local therapies.
ATC patients were left out of the Amgen study (expected to report data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in June) but some Oxigene/CA4P watchers might have taken pause when Amgen decided to wait on a filing for its drug, until the FDA offers more guidance about the regulatory path. Amgen's trial, though, was an open-label, single-arm study; Oxigene already is talking with the FDA about a randomized, controlled study.
Data from a Phase Ib trial with CA4P plus Avastin should become public in the third quarter of this year, though, and positive results would spur a Phase II study testing a quadruplet combination regimen against non-squamous NSCLC in the second half. CA4P's Phase II ovarian cancer trial is still enrolling patients. Sanofi-Aventis Group also has a combretastatin derivative, AVE8062, but it's lagging behind the Oxigene compound in Phase I trials.
While Novartis' interest in AS1404 could bring pharma sniffing around CA4P (which works by a different mechanism of action), Antisoma boasts the benefit of efficacy data from several randomized, controlled Phase II trials. Oxigene lacks randomized results with its compound, and likely will need more results before signing a partner. Either way, the Antisoma deal has drawn eyes to the space, which is likely to mature even more in the months ahead.

Antisoma to present at Rodman and Renshaw Healthcare Conference on May 14

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/20070510090000H5719.html