A Pill to Gain Weight
Most people would give anything for a harmless weight gain pill that would make them gain weight. But there are some people suffering from involuntary weight loss due to AIDS, burns, cancer, renal failure, gastrointestinal disorders, or chronic lung disease who would do anything for a pill to help them gain weight.
Biotechnology General Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BTG), a US-based firm with a large research and manufacturing facility in Rehovot’s Kiryat Weizmann industrial park, has purchased a US company, Gynex, that produces such a pill. BTG president, chief executive officer and treasurer Sim Fass was the one to realize the potential in an age of AIDS of such a drug and to make a successful bid for Gynex.
Fass, born in pre-state Israel and brought to the US by his parents at the age of 10, says the deal is a turning point for the company, which has lost money for 14 of its 15 years due to the heavy investment that biotechnology research requires. We are now among the exclusive club of seven biotech firms in the US out of 400 listed on the stock exchange that are making a profit. Thanks to this drug, Oxandrin, we may be able to recoup in one year the $ 39 million in stock transfers that it cost to buy Gynex, Fass says during one of his frequent trips to Israel.
