By Chris Coyle
June 27, 2000

I was on vacation all of last week and the market was the last thing on my mind. Sometimes, it's just good to get away for a little while. As I returned this weekend, I was pleasantly suprised to see the StockChamp Portfolio making up some serious ground. Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) had a nice run-up to 56 1/4 while Human Genome Sciences (NASDAQ: HGSI) showed strength as it rose to 145 3/8. Friday was a particually strong day for HGSI as the stock rose 12 3/8, or 9%, when they announced one of their drug candidates, BLyS, was ready to begin human clinical drug trials.

As you might know from this previous article, we've been expecting this news for some time now. BLyS is a protein that helps the body make antibodies. It is believed this protein can help people suffering from immune systems disorders.

The drug will be tested on about 100 patients with CVID, Common Variable Immunodeficiency. CVID can be one of many diseases which causes the production of antibodies to become defective. This defect makes patients more likely to get various infections, like pneumonia and bronchitis. The company says that phase I testing of BLyS would probably take about a year to finish. If testing shows to be successful, the drug may be tested on blood cancer patients.

This announcement further proves the dominance of Human Genome Sciences in discovering and testing genomics-derived drugs. For those of you counting at home, this is their fourth drug candidate to be put into clinical trials:

1. BLyS - helps body make antibodies
2. Repifermin (KGF-2) - helps heal epithelial cells (ex. skin)
3. MPIF - helps protect blood-forming tissues from toxins produced in cancer treatments.
4. VEGF-2 - helps rebuild blood vessels

Amazingly, no other company has more than one current genomics-derived drug candidate. Wow!

Also, data on a Phase II study of KGF-2 is expected to be presented in September at the World Wound Healing Congress in Australia. This will be something to look forward to in the next few months.

How it Works
Here is the quick version of how BLyS works. In our blood, we have these things called B cells. These cells carry antibodies around with them. After a while, these B cells mature into plasma B cells, which secrete the antibodies throughout the body.

Most patients with CVID, however, are unable to convert their B cells into plasma B cells. Hence, they have low antibody levels.

This is where BLyS comes in. The protein binds itself to receptors found on the B cells, causing them to mature into plasma B cells.

Uses
BLyS has the potential to be used on a variety of patients and in a variety of situations to help people. Some of these are:

• The elderly
• Cancer patients
• Transplant patients
• Patients with infectious diseases

Despite the great potential this drug possesses, there are some caveats. The drug is just beginning Phase I clinical trials, which means it will take many years before a product could be sold. Worse yet, there is a chance that BLyS will never make it to market. Of all the drugs that enter clinical trials, only about 20 percent will end up getting FDA approval. It's brutal out there in the world of drug testing.

It is exciting to see HGSI discovering new drug candidates that can help the world of medicine. As a shareholder of the company, I can only hope that in the future Human Genome will be able to reap the rewards from these discoveries.

Look for the StockChamp Portfolio stats to be up after the close today in the Portfolio section. Sorry for the delay, but better late than never...right!

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