Did CEO Deirdre Y. Gillespie know of the DSMBs findings prior to the conference?

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co (LJPC) -- Did Deirdre Y. Gillespie, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer know of the DSMBs findings prior to Tuesday BIO & CEO Investor conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City?

Does anyone know if there is a way we can find out if Deirdre knew of the DSMBs findings prior to Tuesdays conference?? T.I.A

Did anyone listen to the first 30 seconds of D.G.'s talk at the bio conference She said " I'm about to tell you great things about La Jolla Pharma and why they may never happen" Then she goes on for 25 minutes. I swear I can here dissapointment in her voice. Have a listen.

Like I said, listen to the first 15 seconds of her talk on Monday at bio conf She says "and this is why it may never happen" Not to mention you can hear it in her vioce. She knew Monday.

It will be interesting to see who did "catch it on Tuesday"....family and friends????..someone selling in large lots...Martha Stewart type folks who should end up in jail...Imclone type situation where all who both sold on the info and "gave" the info to insiders end up in JAIL

I hate conspiracy crap, but if that wasn't a tip off then I don't know what else she was refering to. If I would have heard that earlier I definitly would have questioned what she meant by the statement. So where to from here. I was actually going to add to my position this morning based on the positive close yesterday.

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Yahoo! Message Boards - La Jolla Pharmaceutical (LJPC) - "Angel of Death" Deirdre

UPDATE 2-La Jolla stops developing lupus drug; shares tank

BANGALORE, Feb 12 (Reuters) - (LJPC.O) said it would stop developing its lead drug candidate, an experimental treatment for lupus, after an interim efficacy analysis showed negative results, wiping out about 90 percent of its market value.

La Jolla, which was struggling to win approval for the drug Riquent for years, said it would provide information on its strategic options in the near future.

"(La Jolla) only have cash till May. Riquent was their only product and I think they will cease operations," Pacific Growth Equities analyst Liana Moussatos said.

Riquent was being co-developed with BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc (BMRN.O) and was La Jolla's only clinical-stage drug candidate.

The companies said an independent data monitoring board analysed the first interim efficacy data from a late stage trial named ASPEN and concluded that continuation of the trial would be "futile."

In 2004, U.S. regulators had declined to approve the drug until the company provided more clinical data proving it works.

"Riquent is a risky asset that has now been through about 15 human studies over the past two decades," Leerink Swann analyst Joseph Schwartz said. "This failure highlights the risk of using post-hoc analyses of previously failed studies to design pivotal trials."

Thursday's news not just closed the lid on Riquent, but also showed how increasingly difficult it is for drugmakers to get a lupus drug approved.

"The current standard-of-care (for lupus) has reduced the flare rates for lupus patients to the point that it is extremely difficult for any new drug to show benefit," Pacific Growth's Moussatos said.

Lupus is a potentially fatal, chronic autoimmune disease in which the body creates antibodies that attack the body's own connective tissues.

The disease tends to flare up and wane, making it difficult to assess the effectiveness of any treatment.

A few other companies involved in the development of lupus drugs are ZymoGenetics Inc (ZGEN.O), Immunomedics Inc IMMU, Human Genome Sciences Inc (HGSI.O) and Genelabs Technologies Inc GNLB.O. BioMarin and La Jolla, which agreed to co-develop and market Riquent early last month, said they would now unblind the data and evaluate all the clinical results including secondary endpoints.

BioMarin Chief Executive Jean-Jacques Bienaime said the company spent about $15 million as a part of the agreement on Riquent.

"BioMarin loses just a $15 million upfront payment... whereas failing at the final analysis would have cost $52.5 million," Leerink's Schwartz said in a note to clients.

La Jolla shares were down more than $2 from its Wednesday's close of $2.31, while BioMarin shares fell more than 2 percent to $18.97 both on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier, Anil D'Silva)

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La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company to Present at BIO CEO & Investor Conference

Thursday February 5, 2009, 7:30 am EST

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (Nasdaq: LJPC - News) today announced that Deirdre Y. Gillespie, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, will present on Monday, February 9, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time during the BIO CEO Investor Conference. The conference will take place at The Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York City. An audio web cast of the presentation will be available through the Company’s Web site: La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company.

About La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company is dedicated to improving and preserving human life by developing innovative pharmaceutical products. The Company’s leading product in development is Riquent®, which is designed to treat lupus renal disease by preventing or delaying renal flares. Lupus renal disease is a leading cause of sickness and death in patients with lupus. The Company has also developed potential small molecule drug candidates to treat various other autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. The Company's common stock is traded on The NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol LJPC. More information about the Company is available on its Web site: La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company.

That's how she normally sounds - she's an uptight Brit, you know

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BioMarin Chief Executive Jean-Jacques Bienaime said the company spent about $15 million as a part of the agreement on Riquent. "BioMarin loses just a $15 million upfront payment... whereas failing at the final analysis would have cost $52.5 million," Leerink's Schwartz said in a note to clients.

I hope a lawsuit or investigation is done here, and I am pretty sure it will be done. No firm that diligenced this company could have thought there was a reason to invest 50 or 15 million. And no firm would just give the money without conditions, claw-backs, etc.

I doubt these guys lost the money--it all smacks of manipulation to me. Have seen it many times. Check who was selling all the stock after the fake investment and you will see that somebody profited over the misleading appearance of this questionable "investment".

there will probably be a few class actions started up as a result of the drop, but those rarely pan out.

well they do pan out if there was any wrong-doing or manipualtion

something just does not smell right here IMHO

It really looks to me that the so-called investment was an attempt to manipulate the market when insiders knew the firm was dead.

And the SEC should do those extensive phone and email traces on all communications from buyers and sellers.

No diligence could have failed to reveal that the firm and its product was finished!

I am sure a lawsuit will be filed, but hopefully an official investigation will occur as well.

people seem to think it was a scam...

Yahoo! Message Boards - La Jolla Pharmaceutical (LJPC) - Greed

I don't believe there was any real investment. Just a way to pump and dump IMHO.

Can someone please tell me if LJPC can be held liable for stopping the last trials and stating that is was useless to continue, wipe out all of the shareholders at that time and possibly start the trial again now? I have owned this stock for almost 5 years and am amazed on how they operate. Just wondering.