Miravant Advertises Big, Sans a Product
Talk about putting the cart before the horse.</br></br>Most biotechnology companies in the start-up phase stick generally to the business of trying to gain Federal Drug Administration approval for their drugs.</br></br>But Miravant Medical Technologies, an obscure biotech company in Santa Barbara, Calif., which is developing a light0activated treatment for breast and skin cancer, is taking a different approach.</br></br>Before it has even developed a commercially available product, not to mention gaining FDA approval for its light treatment, Miravant has launched a corporate advertising campaign, running two-page spreads in recent weeks in prominent financial magazines and newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal.</br></br>The ads, which also herald a change in the company's name from PDT Inc., announced Sept. 10, are clearly designed to grab Wall Street's attention. "We don't expect a corporate name change to get the attention of investors," said one. "Would a breakthrough in medical technology suffice?"