Archive for the ‘Health Care Stocks’ Category

Buzz Stocks Week in Review – IDT, CWLZ, PEIX, ARNA

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

Average Weekly Gain: 37.3%


Monday: Our Buzz Stock of the Day on June 28, IDT Corp. (NYSE: IDT) had a great week. IDT, which blends a strange pairing of telecom and energy had positive momentumthroughout the week. Shares began their climb on Monday, after a CNBC interview in which CEO Howard Jonas outlined the company’s shale properties and oil extraction technology. IDT’s energy business, Genie Energy, holds IDT’s interests in the American Shale Oil, LLC (AMSO), a joint oil shale research and development venture in Colorado with Total, S.A.; and in Israel Energy Initiatives (IEI), which holds an exclusive shale oil exploration and production license in the Shfela region of Israel. According to Jonas, it costs IDT Corp. $25 per-barrel to extract oil from shale rock. This figure is about $10 less than ultra-deep water fuel extraction — the kind of extraction that was being used by British Petroleum (NYSE: BP) in the Gulf of Mexico.

Up as much as 57 percent since our post.

Tuesday: On Tuesday, we featured Cowlitz Bancorp. (Pink Sheets: CWLZ) as our Buzz Stock of the Day. Cowlitz shares were up about 25 percent from Monday’s close, in morning trading on Tuesday after the company announced that it presented an updated plan to regain compliance with two Nasdaq Listing Rules with which it is not in compliance and requested a 90-day exception to the continued listing standards. Unfortunately, Cowlitz was de-listed from the Nasdaq on Thursday, July 1. Cowlitz received a  delisting determination letter from Nasdaq due to the Company not being in compliance with the minimum 500,000 publicly held shares requirement set forth in Listing Rule 5550(a)(4), on May 12.

Wednesday: Shares of Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (Nasdaq: PEIX) surged almost 60 percent on Wednesday, after the company announced that four of its subsidiaries had emerged out of bankruptcy. The plant subsidiaries, which are now owned by a newly formed holding company, will continue to be staffed, managed and operated by Pacific Ethanol under a fee and profit-sharing arrangement negotiated with the owners of the newly formed holding company. Pacific Ethanol, Inc. eliminated approximately $290 million in debt and other liabilities from its balance sheet. The bankruptcy did not affect the Company’s ownership structure and the Company continues to be owned by its existing common and preferred stockholders.
Up as much as 31 percent since our post.

Thursday: Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) was up 20 percent from Wednesday’s close, in morning trading on Thursday after the company announced that Japanese drug maker, Eisai, Inc. will market Arena’s obesity treatment lorcaserin in the U.S. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is already reviewing lorcaserin, and a decision is expected on Oct. 22. The main concern with lorcaserin is that patients treated with the drug in two pivotal phase III studies didn’t lose much weight — a little more than 3% on a placebo adjusted basis. The biggest plus in lorcaserin’s corner is the drug’s safety and tolerability, which appear better than competing drugs.
Up as much as 24 percent since our post.

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Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARNA) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Shares of drug maker Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) surged 20 percent from Wednesday’s close, in morning trading on Thursday after it was announced that Japanese drug maker, Eisai, Inc. will market Arena’s obesity treatment lorcaserin in the U.S.

“Execution of this commercial agreement is a major milestone in our plans for lorcaserin,” said Jack Lief, Arena’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We believe in Eisai’s human health care mission to satisfy unmet medical needs and increase benefits to patients and their families.”

Here are a few highlights from the deal:

  • $50 million initial upfront (kind of small when considering the potential of the drug)
  • $90 million upon FDA Approval (PDUFA October 22nd) bringing upfront for US marketing rights to $140 million
  • $1.16B in one-time purchase price adjustments after certain sales goals.
  • 31.5-36.5% of annual Lorcaserin sales
  • [–quote–]
    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is already reviewing lorcaserin, and an decision is expected on Oct. 22. The main concern with lorcaserin is that patients treated with the drug in two pivotal phase III studies didn’t lose much weight — a little more than 3% on a placebo adjusted basis. The biggest plus in lorcaserin’s corner is the drug’s safety and tolerability, which appear better than competing drugs.

    “With Eisai, we have the right company to market lorcaserin in the United States, the right type of agreement to optimize lorcaserin’s medical and commercial potential and the shared recognition that it is the right time to enter into this agreement to prepare for launch following FDA approval,” Lief said.

    Buzz Stocks Week in Review — EFJI, ETRM, LTBR, MIPI

    Friday, June 25th, 2010

    AVERAGE WEEKLY GAIN:  70.75%

    Here’s a quick recap of how this week’s Buzz Stocks fared:

    Monday: Shares of EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: EFJI) rose 40 percent from last Friday’s close in morning trading on Monday after the company increased its sale price 42 percent. The company will now be acquired by Francisco Partners, an affiliate of a private equity firm for $1.50 per share in cash, up from $1.05 per share.
    Up as much as 40% since our post.

    Tuesday: EnteroMedics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ETRM) was our biggest gainer of the week. Shares opened at $0.31 on Tuesday, and climbed nearly 53 percent to a close of $0.61 after the company announced positive data from its obesity treatment device. The following day, shares soared to $0.81, before settling back down to a closing price of $0.63.
    Up as much as 125% since our post.

    Wednesday: Lightbridge Corp. (Nasdaq: LTBR) shares were up 50 percent on Wendesday after the nuclear fuel technology developer announced “a major technological breakthrough,” based on a proprietary all-metal fuel assembly design could reduce both initial capital costs per megawatt and annual operating costs per kilowatt-hour of nuclear power. According to a recent news release, this breakthrough makes nuclear power more competitive with other forms of electricity generation while contributing to a significant reduction of CO2 emissions.
    Up as much as 69% since our post.

    Thursday: Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPI) was first featured as a Buzz Stock of the Day on June 18th after shares rose 30 percent from the previous day’s close, about a week after the company presented nonclinical data demonstrating the utility of the Company’s novel radiopharmaceutical compounds for the molecular imaging of prostate and other tumors. Less than a week later, shares surged 65 percent from Wednesday’s closing price of $1.60, trading at at a high of $2.64 on Thursday after Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced positive data from a completed Phase 2a clinical study of Azedra™, the Company’s lead oncology therapeutic for a common childhood cancer.
    Up as much as 49% since our post.

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    UPDATE — Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (MIPI) – Buzz Stock of the Day

    Thursday, June 24th, 2010

    We first featured Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPI) on June 18th, after the company announced nonclinical data demonstrating the utility of the Company’s novel radiopharmaceutical compounds for the molecular imaging of prostate and other tumors at the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) annual meeting in Salt Lake City.

    Less than a week later, Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals announced positive data from a completed Phase 2a clinical study of Azedra™, the Company’s lead oncology therapeutic for a common childhood cancer. Shares were up more than 65 percent from Wednesday’s closing price, in morning trading on Thursday on almost 10-times the company’s average three-month trading volume.

    [–quote–]

    The company said data from the Azedra study showed that doses of 12 millicurie/kg to 18 millicurie/kg of the drug were tolerated without toxicity and the drug was active in tumors. The main goal of the study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose of Azedra.

    “We showed that Ultratrace iobenguane I-131 with AHSC support is feasible at 18 mCi/kg without significant toxicity and with promising partial and complete responses that support proceeding to a pivotal Phase 2 study at18 mCi/kg,” said lead investigator Katherine K. Matthay, M.D., the Mildred V. Strouss Professor of Translational Cancer Research and Chief, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology in Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.

    Azedra is currently in advanced clinical trials for the treatment of malignant pheochromocytoma, a rare, hard-to-access neuroendocrine tumor that develops in the core of an adrenal gland.

    EnteroMedics, Inc. (ETRM) – Buzz Stock of the Day

    Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

    Shares of medical device maker, EnteroMedics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ETRM) soared 75 percent from Monday’s closing price, in morning trading on Tuesday after the company announced positive data from an ongoing feasibility study of the Maestro System in obese patients with Type-2 diabetes mellitus. The study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Company’s next-generation Maestro RC System, which treats obesity.

    James Toouli, M.D., professor of surgery at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and one of the study’s investigators said the results from the study showed “significant, sustained improvements in glycemic control and blood pressure as well as clinically meaningful weight loss, without a compromise in patient safety.”

    [–quote–]

    Data from the Empower study, in which over 400 patients have used the Maestro System device, showed significant weight loss and control of obesity related co-morbidities.

    EnteroMedics’ device, which is implanted laparoscopically, blocks the vagus nerves periodically using high-frequency, low-energy electrical impulses.

    “Across a number of studies, we have observed clinically significant weight loss and control of obesity related co-morbidities as well as a safety profile that distinguishes this system from all other bariatric surgical procedures. We are particularly encouraged by the strong, positive feedback from the metabolic and bariatric surgery community,” said EnteroMedics’ President and CEO Mark B. Knudson, Ph.D in a statement.