Amgen ends PRCS, GLFD deals
AMGN ended two partnerships on Wednesday: a 1999 deal with Praecis (PRCS) for PRCS's Plenaxis abarelix, and a 1997 deal with Guilford (GLFD) for neuroimmunophilin technology. On Wednesday, PRCS was off $1.02 (21%) to $3.95; GLFD was up $0.94 (12%) to $9.09; and AMGN was off $1.43 to $57.95.
With PRCS, AMGN terminated its joint development and commercialization deal for Plenaxis (see BioCentury, March 15, 1999). The compound is being studied in hormonally responsive prostate cancer and endometriosis. PRCS said it remains committed to the further development and commercialization of Plenaxis. On Monday, PRCS fell $2.68 (28%) to $6.77 in its first day of trading since the prior week, when the company said the FDA recommended that PRCS analyze allergic reactions that occurred in a subset of prostate cancer patients receiving Plenaxis. PRCS also said that the FDA was concerned that testosterone suppression was not maintained beyond the 3-month pivotal study timeframe (see BioCentury Extra, Tuesday Sept. 11). ...