Thanks Ode, my brother has this all over his hands and I believe it spreads :(
From: Ode Coyote <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, June 9, 2012 8:16 AM Subject: CS>Nucryst's Nano Silver Lining Adviser Soapbox Nucryst's Nano Silver Lining Josh Wolfe, Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report 11.09.06, 4:00 PM ET Investors had been pinning their hopes on a drug from Massachusetts-based Nucryst Pharmaceuticals aimed at getting rid of eczema, a form of atopic dermatitis that afflicts more than 15 million Americans and has no known cure. Stay on top of nanotech breakthroughs and progress. Click here to sign up for Josh Wolfe's free Nanotech Weekly Insider. The base for this product is Nucryst's slow-release nanocrystalline silver, which is known to have impressive therapeutic effects, killing over 150 pathogens without any harmful side effects. The nanocrystalline silver, packaged as Silcryst, is already widely used in dressings for serious wounds and burns, distributed and marketed by Smith & Nephew (nyse: SNN - news - people ) under the name Acticoat. On the market since 1998, Acticoat has been a major success for Nucryst--that product alone would render the company profitable if it wasn't pouring all its revenue back into R&D. Acticoat is used in hospitals and burn centers in 30 countries around the world to treat life-threatening burns and serious wounds like pressure ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers and venous stasis ulcers. "Acticoat has good year-over-year, quarter-to-quarter growth, more product variations coming out on it and one of the best marketers in the world behind it," says Wolff. "That's where all the cash flow is coming from." So there's no question that the base technology works--the question is whether it works when developed as a powder form to be used as a topical cream for this particular condition. And the answer is that we still don't know, because the results of the trial are simply not clear-cut. Nucryst is conducting an in-depth analysis of the clinical trial results, after which it will make a decision about whether to proceed with the development of NP 32101 for atopic dermatitis. Wolff says the decision should be made by the end of the year. Even if NP 32101 is eventually dropped for atopic dermatitis, it is still possible that the drug will be useful in gastrointestinal disorders. According to the company, ################################# Nucryst has seen encouraging pre-clinical results in studies looking at the efficacy of NP 32101 for treating inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis. ############################# Note: The original Acticoat is silver impregnated nylon often used in conjunction with a small electrical charge to release *silver ions* into a wound or burn. It's competitor "Silverlon" is also currently used extensively in hospitals. {ken} "Nucryst is continuing to analyze data from this study so that we can evaluate options for our atopic dermatitis program with a complete understanding of the study results," says President and CEO Scott H. Gillis. "Based on our pre-clinical results in a variety of in vitro and in vivo models and the consistently favorable safety data generated in all clinical studies, we believe that NPI 32101 has the potential to treat various inflammatory and infectious conditions. Therefore, we plan to continue our efforts to develop NPI 32101 for a variety of disease conditions." Even if Nucryst cans NP 32101 altogether, the long-term impact on the company won't justify the market reaction. Acticoat is a strong enough product that the company can afford to take some risks in R&D, choosing potential revenues over profitability. And that's exactly what this kind of company has to do. Armed with a thoroughly patented and successful base product, it has to explore all the possible applications. There are bound to be failures along the way. The company won't disclose how much money has gone into NP 32101 thus far, but it's surely not enough to warrant extreme alarm. In fact, dropping the drug at this point may end up saving Nucryst money in the short-term, a silver lining (no pun intended) that could hold it over until it recovers fully from the long-term revenue loss. In the meantime, Acticoat's success will continue to grow. And Nucryst will continue to broaden the horizons of Silcryst technology. One large area of possible penetration is in antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory coatings for medical devices like stints, catheters and implants. And Nucryst might apply its patented manufacturing process, which breaks the bulk silver down and then builds it back up atom by atom into silver nanocrystals, to other noble metals like gold and platinum for formulations to treat diseases as diverse as arthritis and cancer. Medical devices and pharmaceuticals are the company's two main platforms for extending its business as it moves forward. As the investigation into the results of the trial gets under way and the waters calm, the market is likely to climb a bit to a more stable equilibrium in the near-term. "The stock is oversold, and as the dust settles, the third-quarter earnings will be coming out with cash flow and revenues from Acticoat, and people will value the stock based on that, and probably on the assumption that atopic dermatitis is not going to come back," says Wolff. "Then, when the results of the study to determine what happened in clinical trial are released, the company will be in a position to determine whether to continue down the atopic dermatitis route or not. If there's a positive result, the stock may go up as they revitalize that particular product." Investors need to think a bit longer-term here and realize that even if the atopic dermatitis route turns out to be a dead end, the future of Nucryst is still looking bright. More On This Topic New Nano Protection Against HIV and Herpes
