Anti-Angiogenesis

01 Sep 2001

• By Roger Longman

Anti-angiogenesis as a treatment for cancer was hardly a new concept, even in 1998 when a New York Times article first put Judah Folkman's work on the public map. Although the hype has died away, the industrial machine of anti-angiogenesis has continued to roll on--as indicated by the start-up activity we describe in the following profiles.

It may have been the single greatest instance of bio-stock hype since the IPO of Genentech Inc. two decades ago: in one day in May 1998, following the publication of a New York Times article on EntreMed Inc. 's and Harvard University scientist Judah Folkman's work on angiogenesis inhibitors, the company's shares rocketed up 329%. Folkman, the article quoted Nobel Laureate James Watson saying, "is going to cure cancer in two years."

Watson was wrong—in timing at least. EntreMed's lead anti-angiogenesis compound, endostatin, is just beginning phase II trials and no real...