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Grant Zeng

www.zacks.com

Pharmion Corporation (PHRM) is a global pharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, developing, and commercializing products for treating hematology and oncology patients. It has established a regulatory, development, and sales & marketing organization covering the U.S., Europe, and Australia. The company has also developed a distributor network to serve the hematology and oncology markets in two-dozen additional countries throughout the Middle East and Asia. Pharmion has acquired marketing and distribution rights for two drugs Innohep and Refludan. Innohep belongs to the anticoagulant family of drugs, which are generally prescribed to prevent or treat blood clots. Pharmion licensed the U.S. rights to Innohep from LEO Pharma. Refludan is an anti-thrombin agent for the treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia type II. The company licensed rights to Refludan for all markets outside the U.S. and Canada from Schering AG and began selling Refludan in 2002.

The company's two leading drugs are Vidaza and Thalidomide. Pharmion obtained worldwide rights to Vidaza from Pharmacia (now part of Pfizer) in 2001. Vidaza was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2004 for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a predecessor to leukemia. Another key product for Pharmion is Thalidomide for multiple myeloma and leprosy. Pharmion licensed the ex-U.S. rights to Thalidomide from Celgene in 2001. Pharmion is currently seeking approval from EMEA (European Medicines Agency) for expanded use of Thalidomide (50 mg) to treat multiple myeloma (MM). The company has also acquired the rights to three pipeline candidates, Satraplatin, MGCD0103 and Amrubicin. Pharmion was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado.

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