Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: LGND
Industry	Biopharmaceuticals
Founded	September 1987
Founder	Brook Byers[1]
Headquarters	La Jolla, California, USA
Key people	John Higgins (CEO)
Revenue	$48.1 million (2000)
Number of employees	356
Website	Ligand.com

Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company based out of La Jolla, California that develops programs through a portfolio of assorted strategies and properties in the pharmaceutical industry.

History

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, originally called Progenx, was founded in September 1987 by Brook Byers. The company's headquarters are in La Jolla, California. In January 2007, John Higgins became the new CEO of Ligand and the business was stripped down from 66 employees to 18.^[2] When John Higgins became CEO of Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Daniel Loeb of Third Point Management bought into the biotech firm to cut its losses and grow revenue. Loeb invested $50 million, increased the company’s profit to $250 million, and brought back $68 million in stocks.^[2] The company has a market cap of $1.65 billion.^[3]

Partnerships

Ligand Pharmaceuticals is partnered with approximately 120 pharmaceutical companies, which include Captisol and its partnerships.^[4]

Captisol

Ligand Pharmaceuticals' platform technology is Captisol, a chemically modified clathrate compound of the cyclodextrin class designed to improve solubility, stability, bioavailability and dosing of active pharmaceutical ingredients.^[5] The technology has enabled seven United States Food and Drug Administration approved products including Kyprolis and Noxafil-IV and is being developed in several clinical-stage partner programs.^[3]

Collaborations

• Novartis

• Onyx

• Merck

• Bristol-Myers Squibb

• Pfizer

• Exelixis

• Chiva Pharmaceuticals

• Baxter International

• SAGE

• Lundbeck

• Retrophin

• Spectrum

• MEI Pharma

• Sanofi

• Melinta

• TG Therapeutics^[6]

Therapies

Ligand Pharmaceutical's portfolios match the medical needs for patients with diabetes, hepatitis, muscle wasting, Alzheimer’s disease, dyslipidemia, anemia, asthma, osteoporosis, thrombocytopenia, multiple myeloma, and fungal infections.^[7]

References

1. "Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated History". Funding Universe.
2. "Life After Loeb: Ligand Pharmaceuticals Prospers In Stripped-Down Mode". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
3. Hernandez, Angel (9 February 2016). "Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LGND) Profit Expected to Increase". WallStreet. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
4. "3 Biotech Stocks That Could Grow Faster than Apple". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
5. "Captisol". Retrieved 11 July 2015.
6. "Our Collaborations". Ligand. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
7. "Ligand to Participate in Four Upcoming Investor Conferences". Retrieved 11 July 2015.