Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
DJIA	12,529.80	+33.60	0.27%
S&P 500	1,320.68	+1.82	0.14%
Nasdaq	2,839.38	-10.74	-0.38%

Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
STOXX 50	2,156.52	+22.47	1.05%
FTSE 100	5,350.05	+83.64	1.59%
DAX	6,315.89	+30.14	0.48%

Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
Nikkei	8,563.65	+0.27	0.00%
TOPIX	720.73	-1.52	-0.21%
Hang Seng	18,589.10	-77.29	-0.41%

Human Genome CEO Watkins Seeks Partnerships in Cancer, Immunology Drugs

By Meg Tirrell - 2011-01-11T21:17:22Z

Human Genome Sciences Inc., maker of the experimental lupus medicine Benlysta, is seeking partnerships and acquisitions in cancer and immune-system disorders, Chief Executive Officer Tom Watkins said.

“While Benlysta is going to be the growth vehicle for the next few years, to be sustainable as a growth company, you’ve got to make sure the pipeline is as big as it can be,” Watkins said in an interview yesterday at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. “If we find a good opportunity, we’re willing to be fairly aggressive.”

Human Genome, based in Rockville, Maryland, said yesterday that it is prepared to begin selling Benlysta along with its partner, London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc, if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration clears the medicine. The FDA is set to decide by March 10. The drug would be the first approved for lupus in more than 50 years.

The company has a market value of $5.1 billion and finished 2010 with cash and investments of as much as $950 million. Watkins declined to say how much he would spend on deals.

“Anything that’s a specialty market where there’s a significant unmet medical need, particularly where a large molecule could be a player, we’re interested in,” Watkins said. “Those areas like autoimmune or cancer, I think we know better than other areas, but we’ll look at anything.”

Human Genome forecast annual revenue by 2015 of “multi- billion” dollars in a statement yesterday.

The shares rose $1.11, or 4.3 percent, to $26.94 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading, and have lost 11 percent in the last 12 months.

About 5 million people worldwide, including 1.5 million Americans, have lupus, according to the Lupus Foundation of America. Benlysta prevents the production of antibodies that attack healthy cells, causing swelling, joint and muscle pain, rashes and fever.

To contact the reporter on this story: Meg Tirrell in New York at mtirrell@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net.