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Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMLN) soars on news of rejection of Bristol-Myers takeover bid

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

Shares of diabetes drug maker Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMLN) were up more than 50 percent from Tuesday’s closing price in morning trading on Wednesday after Bloomberg reported that Amylin rebuffed an unsolicited takeover bid from pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squib Co. (NYSE: BMY) for $3.5 billion, or $22 a share.

According to data provided by Yahoo Finance, shares of AMLN touched a high of $23.50 on Wednesday, up from Tuesday’s closing price of $15.39.

Reuters reported that Amylin has been considered a possible takeover target for quite some time. Spokeswomen for Bristol-Myers and Amylin refused to comment, Reuters reported.

Bristol Myers Squibb BMY“Bristol as an acquirer makes sense,” Robyn Karnauskas, an analyst with Deutsche Bank in New York, wrote in a note to clients today, Bloomberg reported. “Amylin could be worth up to $31 a share based on expense synergies. However, Bristol is financially disciplined.”

There have been 16 acquisitions more than $1 billion of biotech companies in Amylin’s peer group in the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The average disclosed size was $8 billion, with an average premium of 35 percent, the Bloomberg data show.

 

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Chelsea Therapeutics International Ltd. (CHTP) rises on FDA nod for Northera

Friday, February 24th, 2012

Chelsea Therapeutics CHTPShares of Charlotte-based drug maker, Chelsea Therapeutics International Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHTP) were up as much as 69 percent from Thursday’s closing price on Friday after it was announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted in favor of recommending Chelsea’s neurological drug, Northera, for approval.

Chelsea Therapeutics shares touched a high of $4.09 on Friday, up from Thursday’s closing price of $2.41.

“We believe our clinical data demonstrates the significant symptomatic benefit of Northera treatment across a broad range of Neurogenic OH symptoms,” said Chelsea Therapeutics’ CEO Dr. Simon Pedder in a statement. “Since no other treatment has been proven to alleviate the symptoms of neurogenic OH or improve patients’ ability to carry out activities of daily living, we continue to believe Northera could fill this unmet need for patients with Parkinson’s disease, MSA, PAF and other neurologic diseases. We are pleased by today’s panel vote and we look forward to continuing to work with the FDA in advance of the March 28, 2012 PDUFA action date.”

Northera is the lead investigational agent in Chelsea’s pipeline, and has has been studied in two Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension in patients with primary autonomic failure — a group of diseases that includes Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy (MSA) and pure autonomic failure (PAF). Droxidopa is a synthetic catecholamine that is directly converted to norepinephrine (NE) via decarboxylation, resulting in increased levels of NE in the nervous system, both centrally and peripherally.

Chlesea Therapeutics submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) for Northera in September 2011. The drug was previously granted Orphan Drug Designation, which is granted by the FDA to treatments for rare diseases and disorders.

 

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Inhibitex Inc INHX shares more than double on buyout news

Monday, January 9th, 2012

Inhibitex Inc INHXShares of  hepatitis C drug developer Inhibitex, Inc. (Nasdaq: INHX) were up more than 140 percent from Friday’s closing price in morning trading on Monday after it was announced over  the weekend that pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) made a $26 a share cash  to acquire Inhibitex.

The $26 cash offer for Alpharetta-based Inhibitex represents a 163 premium to Friday’s closing price of $9.87.

“The acquisition of Inhibitex builds on Bristol-Myers Squibb’s long history of discovering, developing and delivering innovative new medicines in virology and enriches our portfolio of investigational medicines for hepatitis C,” said Lamberto Andreotti, chief executive officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb in a January 7 press release. “There is significant unmet medical need in hepatitis C. This acquisition represents an important investment in the long-term growth of the company.”

Inhibitex’s lead hepatitis C asset  is INX-189, an oral nucleotide polymerase (NS5B) inhibitor in Phase II development that has exhibited potent antiviral activity, a high barrier to resistance and pan-genotypic coverage.

“The addition of Inhibitex’s nucleotide polymerase inhibitor to our own promising portfolio, which includes other direct-acting antivirals, brings additional options to develop all-oral regimens with better cure rates, shorter duration of therapy and lower toxicity than the current standard of care,” said Elliott Sigal, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president, chief scientific officer and president, R&D, Bristol-Myers Squibb said in a statement.

The transaction is expected to be dilutive to earnings for Bristol-Myers Squibb through 2016, with an expected impact on earnings per share of approximately $0.04 in 2012 and approximately $0.05 in 2013, the January 7 press release stated.

About Inhibitex, Inc. (Nasdaq: INHX)

Inhibitex, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing products to prevent and treat serious infectious diseases. The Company’s clinical-stage pipeline includes two Phase 2 development programs for which it has retained all future rights: INX-189, a nucleotide polymerase inhibitor in development for the treatment of chronic HCV infections, and FV-100, a nucleoside analogue in development for the treatment of shingles-associated pain. The Company also has additional HCV nucleotide polymerase inhibitors in preclinical development and has licensed the use of its proprietary MSCRAMM® protein platform to Pfizer for the development of a staphylococcal vaccine, which is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial.

For additional information about the Company, please visit www.inhibitex.com.

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Fonar Corp. (FONR) shares soar as Q1 net income increases 360 percent

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

Shares of MRI company Fonar Corp. (Nasdaq: FONR) were up as much as 26 percent from Monday’s closing price in morning trading on Tuesday after the company reported a 360 percent increase in first quarter earnings driven by an increase in management and service revenue, and a decrease in costs and expenses, offset by a decrease in product sales.

Fonar’s net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 increased to $1.8 million, from $363,0000 a year earlier. Basic earnings per common share increased 257% to $0.25 per share during the first fiscal quarter of fiscal 2012 as compared to $0.07 per common share for the first fiscal 2011 quarter ended September 30, 2010. In addition, the diluted earnings per common share increased 243% to $0.24 per share during the first fiscal quarter of fiscal 2012 as compared to $0.07 per common share for the first fiscal 2011 quarter ended September 30, 2010.

Total revenues rose 11 percent to $9.6 million, compared to $8.7 million for the same period last year.  Total operating costs and expenses decreased 5 percent to $7.8 million, from $8.3 million a year ago. Fonar’s product sales in the quarter ended September 30, 2011 dropped to $1.8 million, from $2.7 million a year ago. Service and repair revenue increased to $2.9 million in the quarter, from $2.7 million a year ago, and revenues from management and other fees increased to $4.9 million, from $3.3 million a year ago.

“”Over the last six quarters we have a net profit of $4.9 million,” said Dr. Raymond Damadian, Fonar’s Chairman and CEO in a November 15 press release. “This is due to changes that we have had to make including a focus on the management of our ten UPRIGHT® MRI imaging centers and some difficult cost reductions. While sales are not as robust as in prior years, we believe sales of the UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI will increase as the U.S. economy continues its recovery. This is because the UPRIGHT® MRI has huge value in medicine when it comes to diagnosing the spine. As time goes on, more and more physicians and patients recognize this. The discovery that an interrupted CSF flow causes MS is a valuable discovery and one that will immensely help those poor souls afflicted with the symptoms of MS as well as FONAR tremendously.”

 

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Anika Therapeutics, Inc. (ANIK) soars after Q3 results

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Shares of Anika Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANIK) were up as much as 28 percent from Wednesday’s closing price, in morning trading on Thursday after  the Bedford-based company announced third quarter revenue and profit increases, over the same period a year ago.

Shares touched an intraday high of $7.75, up from Wednesday’s closing price of $6.04.

For the three months ended September 30, 2011, Anika Therapeutics reported revenue of $18.5 million, a 33 percent increase over revenue of $13.9 million reported in the same quarter last year. Operating income for the third quarter of 2011 increased to $4.8 million, up from $2.1 million in the same period a year ago. Net income rose to $3 million, or 22 cents per diluted share, up from $1.2 million or 9 cents per diluted share last year.

“Fueled by 35% growth in product revenue and continued operational streamlining, this was an excellent quarter for Anika,” said Charles H. Sherwood, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer in a November 2 press release.  “Our product revenue growth was driven by strong U.S. and international sales of Orthovisc, as well as increased shipments of our ophthalmic products and the advanced wound care products from Anika S.r.l. that we have added to our dermal franchise, highlighted by Hyalomatrix®. In addition to contributing to our top-line growth, Anika S.r.l. continued to reduce its net loss in the third quarter.”

Headquartered in Bedford, Mass., Anika Therapeutics, Inc. develops, manufactures and commercializes therapeutic products for tissue protection, healing, and repair. These products are based on hyaluronic acid (HA), a naturally occurring, biocompatible polymer found throughout the body. Anika’s products range from orthopedic/joint health solutions led by Orthovisc, a treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee, to surgical aids in the ophthalmic and anti-adhesion fields. The company also offers aesthetic dermal fillers for the correction of facial wrinkles. Anika’s Italian subsidiary, Anika S.r.l, provides complementary HA products in orthopedic/joint health and anti-adhesion, as well as therapeutics in new areas such as advanced wound treatment and ear, nose and throat care. Anika S.r.l.’s regenerative tissue technology advances Anika’s vision to offer therapeutic products that go beyond pain relief to protect and restore damaged tissue.

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