� 1999, Biotechclinician



BioChem Pharma
Nasdaq: BCHE

275 Armand-Frappier Blvd.
Laval, Quebec
Canada H7V 4A7
Tel.: (450) 681-1744
Fax: (450) 978-7755
E-Mail: corpcom@biochempharma.com

Investor Relations:
Christine Lennon
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Tel.: (450) 978-7771
Fax: (450) 978-7755

Company Description

BioChem Pharma is a Quebec, Canada based pharmaceutical company. The company is involved with novel therapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostic methods. The company conducts research, development and commercialization in each of these areas. They have offices and production facilities throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. They are currently focusing on a number of areas including anticancer therapies, antiviral drugs (including HIV, Hepatitis B and C), influenza vaccines, bacterial meningitis vaccines, and recombinant protein bacterial vaccines. They are also developing diagnostic technology in the areas of hematology, endocrinology and immunology.

The company has been built on a drug called 3TC/Epivir (lamivudine). It was discovered in 1986 by Dr. Bernard Belleau. Dr. Belleau joined with Dr. Francesco Bellini and Dr. Gervais Dionne to form the company that same year. Dr. Bellini is now the CEO and Dr. Dionne is the executive vice-president of research and development.

Lamivudine is an anti-retroviral, nucleoside analogue, reverse transcriptase inhibitor. It has become the mainstay of HIV/AIDS therapy. A nucleoside analogue is a chemical that is structurally related to one of the building blocks of RNA. This chemical blocks the cell's machinery that is responsible for the replication of viral particles, thus ending the virus' ability to propagate.

Lamivudine is an excellent core drug with great expansion potential. The sales of lamivudine provide solid cash flow for continued operation and expansion of the companies other products. The company is actively expanding the therapeutic indications for this drug, which should significantly boost sales in the relatively near future.

Products

BioChem Pharma's main product is 3TC (AKA Epivir, AKA lamivudine). Epivir is the top-selling AIDS drug on the world market with $700 million in sales in 1997. It is used in combination therapy with three or more other anti-retroviral drugs in a "cocktail". The cornerstone of all mainstream AIDS therapies is 3TC. It is currently marketed in more than 80 countries. Combavir is a proprietary combination of 3TC and AZT. This combination greatly simplifies the often cumbersome medication regimen that people with HIV are forced to take. The use of "cocktail" drug therapy in the treatment of HIV has essentially turned this once rapidly fatal disease into a more manageable chronic illness.

The company recently won approval in Canada for the expanded use of lamivudine (under the name Heptovir) in treating hepatitis B (also caused by a retrovirus). This represents the first oral antiviral medication for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection. They are actively seeking approval for the same indication in the United States. There are over 350 million people in the world with chronic HBV infection. HBV is associated with 80% of primary liver cancers and is the 10
th leading cause of death worldwide. There are about 1 million people in the United States affected with this disease. Early trials showed continued improvement in liver inflammation and cell damage with long term use of the drug. They also showed suppression of the viral DNA that indicates decreased viral replication. These therapeutic effects were achieved with a minimal number of side effects compared with placebo.

The company has developed an extensive library of potentially marketable vaccines. First is Fluviral S/F, which is a trivalent, split virion, influenza vaccine. It is inactivated and produced in eggs. This vaccine is currently on the market and is used to immunize patients against influenza viruses.

Second is a BCG vaccine used in active immunization against tuberculosis. Pacis is a BCG product used in the treatment of bladder cancer.

Also available is a vaccine (d2T5) for active immunization against diphtheria and tetanus. The company also produces an absorbed tetanus toxoid for immunization.

In the diagnostic arena, BioChem Pharma develops and markets a range of products. The most interesting of which is Allertech. This technological platform performs automated EIA (enzymatic immunoassay) microplate analyses used in testing patients for allergies. The parent technology is Labotech, which is an automated microplate analyzer. It is capable of fully automating the cumbersome job of performing immuno-enzymatic microplate techniques. The Personal Lab is a smaller version of the Labotech that utilizes Microsoft Windows 95 compatible software.

The Spirit line of products is a group of automated blood analyzers. The SR1 is an automated analyzer for use in the small to medium sized medical laboratory.

They also produce a line of EIA test kits used in the medical laboratory for the detection of HIV, HTLV (human T-cell lymphoma virus) and TB. Other test kits include tests for the in vitro detection of HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies from patient serum, whole blood or saliva.

Other current services include the production of monoclonal antibodies and peptide synthesis on a contract basis.

Pipeline

The foundation of a biotech company's future prospects is its product pipeline. The bigger the better! BioChem Pharma has several novel drugs in development for the treatment of a variety of conditions.

BCH-4556 is related to lamivudine but is targeted toward the destruction of cancer cells. This drug represents a novel approach the to the treatment of cancer. It is a non-natural L-nucleoside analogue. In pre-clinical trials it showed activity against renal and prostate cancer and leukemia. Phase I trials are now wrapping up and Phase II trials should begin to look at its effectiveness and safety in the treatment of renal, prostate, breast, ovarian, colon, nonsmall cell lung cancers and leukemia.

BCH-10652 is a distinct nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor. In preclinical trials, it showed activity against HIV resistant to 3TC, AZT and certain protease inhibitors. HIV resistance to BCH-10652 developed very slowly in preclinical studies. The drug seems to penetrate the cerebrospinal fluid (a known HIV sanctuary) very well. All this with a good safety profile. If these results pan out in clinical studies, the FDA will probably be forced to fast track this drug. BCH-10652 is currently is phase I trials.

BCH-3963 is a peripherally acting analgesic compound. Development is proceeding in cooperation with Astra Pharmaceuticals. It works by binding to peripherally located pain receptors. Morphine (the gold standard) works centrally, within the central nervous system. Without central activity, the side effect profile is greatly reduced. In preclinical trials, the drug seems to work as well as morphine but without the side effects and addictive potential. It is currently in phase I trials.

The company also has a number of products that are in development and licensed for the Canadian market. This includes Lisofylline, a drug that is in Phase III trials for cancer treatment. They also have two products for hypogonadism: DHT-gel
for geriatric hypogonadism and Testosterone-gel for male hypogonadism. These two drugs are also in Phase III trials in Canada. They have two other cancer drugs. Incel (VX-710) is in Phase II trials. The other, CT-2584, is currently in Phase I trials.

The pipeline is also full of a number of vaccines. BioChem Pharma has a couple of innovative influenza vaccines in development. The one closest to approval is a cell-culture based influenza vaccine. The vaccine was noted to be safe and elicit an immune response equivalent to that produced with Fluviral S/F, an egg-derived split influenza vaccine. This new vaccine will significantly shorten the manufacturing time for the vaccine. This would be a very big step. Currently it takes over a year to manufacture an egg based flu vaccine. This makes it much more difficult to choose the correct strains to be used in the vaccine. This vaccine can also be administered to people with egg protein allergies. Currently this product is in Phase III trials.

The other influenza vaccine is nasally administered. This product is in Phase II trials. A product such as this would increase the number of people who receive the immunization by decreasing the fear factor as well as the logistics to do mass immunizations. Another plus is the fact that nasal administration of vaccines should induce a local mucosal immunity in addition to the systemic immune response produced by the vaccine. This should result in a greater efficacy.

BioChem also has a recombinant protein vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis bacteria. This can cause a meningococcal meningitis (infection around the brain) and septicemia (overwhelming systemic infection). Meningococcal meningitis has a high rate of morbidity and a mortality rate up to 10%. Of the 12 serogroups of Neisseria meningitidis, only four are covered by the current vaccines. The new vaccine seems to cover all known serogroups. The current polysaccharide vaccines are also poorly immunogenic in children and immunocompromised patients. The protein vaccines are known to provoke a better and longer-lasting immunity in patients. They are planning an IND filing in Canada.

They are also working on other recombinant protein vaccines against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Haemophilus influenzae non-typeable, Streptococcus group B and Chlamydia pneumoniae. In addition to these, BioChem is also working on a more effective vaccine against TB.

MANAGEMENT

The officers of the company:

Frederick J. Andrew
Chief Financial Officer

Greg Arnsdorff
President, BioChem ImmunoSystems Inc.

Francesco Bellini, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer

Terry L. Bowlin, Ph.D.
Vice President, Therapeutic Research

Alan DeSousa
Vice President, Corporate Finance

Gervais Dionne, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Research and Development

Daniel Hétu, M.D.
Vice President, Corporate Development

Jacques R. Lapointe
President and Chief Operating Officer

François Legault
Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Investments

Christine Lennon
Vice President, Corporate Communications

Christian Proulx
Vice President, Human Resources

Louise Proulx, Ph.D.
Vice President, Therapeutic Product Research

Charles-A. Tessier
Vice President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary

Claude Vezeau, Pharm.D.
President, BioChem Vaccines Inc.

The following are the members of the company's Board of Directors:

Francesco Bellini, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
BioChem Pharma Inc.

Bernard Canavan, M.D.
Retired Executive

Gervais Dionne, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Research and Development
BioChem Pharma Inc.

Jean-Louis Fontaine
Chairman of the Board
Vice-Chairman, Corporate Affairs, Bombardier Inc.

Jean-François Formela, M.D.
General Partner, Atlas Venture
The Honourable James A. Grant, P.C., Q.C.
Partner, Stikeman, Elliott

Roderick L. Henry
Chairman, Henrod Investments Inc.

Jacques R. Lapointe
President and Chief Operating Officer
BioChem Pharma Inc.

Guy Lord
Partner, Desjardins Ducharme Stein Monast

Paul N. Lucas
President and Chief Executive Officer
Glaxo Wellcome Inc.

Michel Perron
Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer, Somiper Inc.

Guy Savard
Vice Chairman of the Board and President - Quebec
Midland Walwyn Capital Inc.

Competitors

BioChem Pharma competes with a number of companies. They are in three fast growing areas including therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics. Competition includes the huge pharmaceutical companies and some of the smallest biotech startups. They also have a broad range of diagnostic equipment, which puts them in competition with most of the equipment makers.

Alliances

BioChem has been very aggressive in pursuing alliances throughout the biotech/pharmaceutical world. GlaxoWellcome is their main partner. They have been their partners in the development and marketing of 3TC. BCHE receives 12-13% of the sales of 3TC. They are also working with Glaxo on using lamivudine for Hepatitis B and liver transplants. BioChem retains the rights to lamivudine in Canada (they have a commercialization partnership with Glaxo in Canada). They have an agreement with Astra for the development of pain control medications. SmithKline Beecham Biologicals signed an agreement covering novel influenza vaccines, including the cell-derived injectable vaccine and a nasally administered vaccine. They have a number of other working alliances with other companies including Amrad Corporation; Apoptosis Technology, Inc. which is a subsidiary of ImmunoGen Inc. (apoptotic drugs); Biovector Therapeutics SA (nasal vaccine delivery); Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (lisofylline and CT-2584); OSI Pharmaceuticals (antiviral drugs); Qualia Computing, Inc. (computer-aided breast cancer diagnosis technology); Scriptgen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (hepatitis B and dimerescent receptor research programs); Structural Bioinformatics, Inc. (treatment of Hepatitis C and cancer); Unimed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Androgel-DHT and Testosterone –gel); UroCor, Inc. (PACIS for the treatment of superficial bladder cancer); and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (VX-710 for the treatment of cancer in Canada).

FINANCIALS


   

    BIOCHEM PHARMA INC.
    CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF EARNINGS
    QUARTERS AND NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 1998 AND 1997
    (Unaudited)

    In thousands of Canadian dollars
    except per share information
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Quarter ended      Nine months ended
                                    -------------------- --------------------
                                      Sept.      Sept.      Sept.      Sept.
                                       30,        30,        30,        30,
                                      1998       1997       1998       1997
                                    --------- ----------  --------- ---------
                                           $         $           $         $
     Operating revenue
       Sales                          33,609    32,014     102,916   101,606
       Royalties                      37,791    31,726     109,974    89,230
       Research and development
        contracts                     10,045     1,126      19,459     2,527
       Interest                        2,046     2,872       9,035     8,722
       Other                           3,245     1,591       5,654     3,955
                                    --------- ----------  --------- ---------
                                      86,736    69,329     247,038   206,040
                                    --------- ----------  --------- ---------

    Expenses
       Cost of sales                  18,145    17,467      53,264    51,072
       Selling and administrative     18,748    16,547      57,199    52,260
       Research and development       14,169     9,892      36,683    26,070
       Financial                       1,848     2,952       5,495     6,890
                                    --------- ----------  --------- ---------
                                      52,910    46,858     152,641   136,292
                                    --------- ----------  --------- ---------

    Earnings before depreciation,
     amortization and other           33,826    22,471      94,397    69,748
    Depreciation and amortization     (3,656)   (2,704)    (10,016)   (8,314)
                                    --------- ----------  --------- ---------
    Earnings before income taxes and
     other                            30,170    19,767      84,381    61,434
    Income taxes                      (2,480)      133      (8,511)   (1,737)
    Non-controlling interest             135       608       1,826     1,549
    Share of loss of an affiliated
     company                               -         -           -    (6,595)
                                    --------- ----------  --------- ---------
    Net income                        27,825    20,508      77,696    54,651
                                    --------- ----------  --------- ---------
                                    --------- ----------  --------- ---------
    Earnings per common share           0.26      0.19        0.72      0.51
                                    --------- ----------  --------- ---------
                                    --------- ----------  --------- ---------
    Weighted average number of common
     shares outstanding                               108,355,798 108,119,690
                                                      ----------- -----------
                                                      ----------- -----------


    BIOCHEM PHARMA INC.
    CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
    AS AT SEPTEMBER 30, 1998 AND 1997
    (Unaudited)

    In thousands of Canadian dollars
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Sept. 30,        Sept. 30,
                                        1998             1997
                                      -----------      -----------
                                              $                $
    ASSETS
    Current assets
       Cash and temporary investments   177,428          343,052
       Accounts receivable              125,119           97,558
       Inventories                       37,233           30,600
       Prepaid expenses                   5,144            4,024
                                      -----------      -----------
                                        344,924          475,234

    Investments                          79,831           32,649

    Capital assets                      119,406           99,739

    Other assets                         42,042           29,768
                                      -----------      -----------
                                        586,203          637,390
                                      -----------      -----------
                                      -----------      -----------

    LIABILITIES
    Current liabilities
       Bank indebtedness                 26,246           20,502
       Accounts payable and accrued
        liabilities                      51,548           47,815
       Current portion of long-term debt 11,406           11,036
                                      -----------      -----------
                                         89,200           79,353

    Long-term debt                       48,609           70,074

    Other liabilities                     5,902            4,715

    Non-controlling interest              1,563           13,288

    SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY                440,929          469,960
                                      -----------      -----------

                                        586,203          637,390
                                      -----------      -----------
                                      -----------      -----------


    BIOCHEM PHARMA INC.
    CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN FINANCIAL POSITION
    QUARTERS AND NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 1998 AND 1997
    (Unaudited)

    In thousands of Canadian dollars
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         Quarter ended    Nine months ended
                                      ------------------- -------------------
                                      Sept. 30, Sept. 30, Sept. 30, Sept. 30,
                                        1998      1997      1998      1997
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------
                                             $         $         $         $

    Cash provided by (used for) the following activities:

    OPERATING ACTIVITIES
    Net income                          27,825    20,508    77,696    54,651
    Non-cash items
       Depreciation and amortization     3,656     2,704    10,016     8,314
       Share of loss of an affiliated
        company                              -         -         -     6 595
       Non-controlling interest           (135)     (608)   (1,826)   (1,549)
       Other                              (536)      714       835     1,144
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------
    Operating cash flow                 30,810    23,318    86,721    69,155

    Changes in non-cash working
     capital items                       6,503     6,364   (15,991)   (9,913)
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------
    Cash flow from operations           37,313    29,682    70,730    59,242
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------

    INVESTING ACTIVITIES
    Acquisition of investments          (4,124)   (3,034)  (13,912)  (13,788)
    Acquisition of capital assets       (4,102)  (11,836)  (18,714)  (35,280)
    Disposal of capital assets             117        93       372       239
    Acquisition of non-controlling
     interest                                -         -   (16,214)        -
    Other                               (1,268)   (1,317)   (1,697)   (2,333)
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------
                                        (9,377)  (16,094)  (50,165)  (51,162)
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------

    Free cash flow                      27,936    13,588    20,565     8,080
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------

    FINANCING ACTIVITIES
    Increase in long-term debt               -     2,236     1,498     8,885
    Repayment of long-term debt        (10,700)   (1,093)  (12,240)   (1,980)
    Non-controlling interest                 -     1,400         -     2,650
    Issuance of common shares            1,766       556     2,637     2,531
    Dividends                                -         -  (150,000)        -
    Other                                   28       124        18       229
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------
                                        (8,906)    3,223  (158,087)   12,315
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------

    Foreign currency translation
     adjustment                           (144)       18     1,255       385
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------

    Increase (decrease) in cash
     position                           18,886    16,829  (136,267)   20,780
    Cash position, beginning of period 132,296   305,721   287,449   301,770
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------
    Cash position, end of period       151,182   322,550   151,182   322,550
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------
                                      --------- --------- --------- ---------

    Cash position comprises cash and temporary investments, less bank
    indebtedness.



RECOMMENDATION/OUTLOOK

A relatively conservative evaluation of 1999 earnings leads us to a projected EPS of $0.85 on sales of $124 million. With a stable PE ratio of 40, this translates into a price of $34.37 per share. The year 2000 should be great. One analyst predicts 3TC sales worldwide to be $1.1 billion. If the company gets 12% of that, they will have $132 million in revenue from that single drug. Carrying out the calculations gives us an EPS of $0.91 and a price of $36.5 based only on 3TC revenue. If you include stagnant sales of their other products, these numbers rise to $1.20 (EPS) and $48.07. These are very conservative estimates. They do not take into account any new drugs or other products currently in development. Realistically, we expect the stock to at least double by the end of 2000. With a potential market of over 350 million people (estimated 5% of the world's population) as the market for your new drug, you are going to make money.
We are impressed with the company's pipeline. Many of its drugs that are already approved in Canada may soon be able to contribute to revenue in United States. BioChem Pharma has an impressive list of corporate partners and should easily be able to maintain their current growth rate of about 35%. Look for this company to make some significant contributions to medicine in the near future. They will also be making some significant contributions to the bottom line.






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� 1999, Biotechclinician