Genesis claims it will be better late than never

Friday 1st June 2001

By Nicholas Bryant

Listed biotechnology innovator Genesis Research & Technology is once again shrugging off bad news on the grounds it may be late to market but will be different enough to succeed.

The product which it will be late to market with is PVAC, a revolutionary conceptual vaccine for the treatment of psoriasis.

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disorder characterised by red, scaly, thick plaques that can cause considerable discomfort.

It affects about 2% of the world's population.

The bad news is US joint-venture companies Xoma and Genentech have met primary objectives with their psoriasis drug Xanelim.

Xanelim is a humanised monoclonal antibody, which after 12 weeks of treatment had improved the lives of enough patients that it was considered "statistically significant."

Xanelim-treated patients showed a 75% or more improvement in "Psoriasis Area and Severity Index" scores, a numerical measure of improvement in disease from start to finish.

The drug could be on the market by the end of this year, while PVAC won't be for sale until at least 2004.

Shares in Xoma rose 9% or $US1.25 to $US12.75 on the news, while Genentech shares rose $US1.45 to $US51.15.

Genesis, on the other hand, listed at $6 a share last September, shot to $8 then slipped back to current levels of about $3.90 after efficacy tests fell short of what some investors hoped for.

Genesis' head of corporate service Stephen Hall said he still had high hopes for PVAC.

"The big-picture things haven't changed, in that we're aware of other products that are proceeding through the clinical trial process, but we differentiate ourselves from them significantly in the safety of our product, the lack of impact on the person and their hugely improved quality of life."

Genesis' PVAC vaccine requires fewer visits to doctor, one every three weeks, and has fewesr side effects.

"Yes, it's always possible another product will be first to market but we believe when we get there we will have a hugely different market opportunity ... the conventional wisdom was that first to market was a huge advantage but I've seen studies which say that really isn't the case any more. There are other important factors, including the marketing effort," Mr Hall said.

One of those studies was published by Deutsche Bank in January.

It says a drug's profile and impact can buck the traditional "first up best dressed" perception.

It used the phenomenal market success of Pfizer's cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor as an example.

"Despite being the fifth drug of its type to market, Lipitor's superior profile combined with Pfizer's marketing muscle resulted in one of the most spectacular launches in the industry's history," the report says.

Genesis is in continuing modified efficacy trials for PVAC in the US and Brazil and is in negotiations to license the drug in Europe.

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