Archive for the ‘Health Care Stocks’ Category

Buzz Stock of the Day – GeoPharma, Inc. (GORX)

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Shares of GeoPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: GORX) were up as much as 155 percent at mid-day today.

Despite a 28 percent decrease in third quarter revenues, CEO Mihir Taneja said that the company is confident that it will “end the 2009 fiscal year on a high note” primarily because of the addition of new manufacturing contracts and the emergence of its pharmaceutical business.

Pharmaceutical revenues for the nine months ended December 31st were $1.1 million, a 2722 percent increase over the same period in 2007.

CFO, Carol Dore-Falcone stated that the company hopes to “achieve break even on a cash basis in the final quarter of 2009 fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, and to see continued improvements in our financial results thereafter.”

Earlier this year, the company announced the sale of its majority ownership in its ovarian cancer business for about $2.5 million in cash, and a minority stake in the business, allowing the company to strengthen its financial position and ease “the burden of funding our ovarian cancer business segment,” Taneja said. GeoPharma will still remain a significant partner in the business, with a 40 percent stake.

GeoPharma has three main market segments:

  • Specialty Pharma, which specializes in the formulation of generic drugs for human and veterinary usage and the development of medical devices used by oncologists and other medical professionals.
  • Manufacturing, which manufactures generic drugs nutraceuticals, cosmetics and functional food products
  • Distribution, which packages and distributes the company’s products

In September 2008, Green Coast Capital issued a 12-month price target of $5.00 on GORX, citing the company’s well-defined growth strategy, and FDA approval of its new Largo, FL Cephalosporin facility for the production of the antibiotic, Cephalexin.

Green Coast’s valuation was based on applying a standard 5x gross profit valuation multiple to the company’s current fiscal year gross profit forecast of $20.6 million, and subtracting the company’s current debt of $26.7 million.

Buzz Stock of the Day – Antigenics (AGEN)

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Our Buzz Stock of the Day — Antigenics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGEN) — was the big winner of today’s bio-tech rally.

Earlier this week, Antigenics said an analysis of patient data showed that patients with kidney cancer at intermediate risk of disease recurrence demonstrated an approximately 46 percent lower risk of death when treated with the company’s Oncophage® (vitespen) cancer therapy. Oncophage is currently approved only in Russia. The company has also filed for approval in the European Union.
Shares of Antigenics have risen almost 250% over the last 30 days.

“Demonstration of an overall survival benefit remains the gold standard, and these interim results show that Oncophage has a real promise of improving survival in patients with earlier-stage disease for whom current prognosis remains poor,” said Dr. Christopher Wood, who presented the survival results at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. “Based on these results, Oncophage offers these patients a potential treatment that extends survival without significant toxicities.”

Buzz Stocks of the Day – Aeterna Zentaris (AEZS), Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX)

Monday, June 1st, 2009


Shares of Canadian biotech firm, Aeterna Zentaris, Inc. (Nasdaq: AEZS) were up as much as 35 percent in mid day trading today after its partner, Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: KERX) announced positive Phase 2 data from its cancer treatment perifosine (KRX-0401), an Akt-inhibitor compound that is used as a treatment for colon and kidney cancer.

Perifosene is in-licensed by Keryx from Aeterna Zentaris.

The data was presented over the weekend at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. The poster #4081 entitled, “Randomized Phase 2 study of perifosine in combination with capecitabine versus capecitabine alone in patients with second- or third-line metastatic colon cancer”, showed that perifosine combined with capecitabine, more than doubled time to progression versus capecitabine plus placebo with a statistically significant p-value. In addition, perifosine plus capecitabine more than doubled the Overall Response Rate and almost doubled the Clinical Benefit Rate versus capecitabine plus placebo.

Aeterna Zentaris’ annual revenues during the last years have been in the range of $35 million to $40 million, coming from sales of marketed products, license agreements and services.

In March 2009, the company signed a collaboration agreement with leading pharmaceutical company, Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) for the commercialization of the company’s lead compound, cetrorelix, which is used in treating benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a benign enlargement of the prostate.

“The agreement provided us with an upfront payment of $30 million, bringing the total of our non-dilutive funding over the last 18 months to roughly $100 million,” said Aeterna Zentaris CEO, Juergen Engel Ph.D, in a recent interview.

Join the discussion on our Buzz Stocks Board, and find out what other investors think about AEZS.

Buzz Stock of the Day – Oculus Innovative Sciences (OCLS)

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

Shares of Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: OCLS) were up more than 135 percent at mid-day on the Nasdaq.

The Petaluma-based company said U.S. health regulators approved its Microcyn skin and wound gel as both a prescription and over-the-counter formulation, sending shares up 70 percent before the bell.

The gel is intended to treat wounds such as leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers and mechanically or surgically debrided wounds.

“We understand the critical role that reimbursement plays in the successful commercialization of a medical product, and in that this is our first reimbursable product, we plan to aggressively market to the U.S. healthcare community,” said Oculus’ founder and CEO Hoji Alimi. “At the same time, we are taking all steps necessary to secure regulatory approvals outside North America so as to begin generating international sales through our existing distribution channels worldwide.”

Oculus, in partnership with its North American contract sales organization, Advocos, will market and sell the Microcyn® Skin and Wound Gel to the North American medical community as well as consumers beginning in June 2009.

Earlier this month, Oculus announced that its manufacturing facility in Mexico was working around the clock to meet the sudden product demand for Microdacyn™, a broad-spectrum antiseptic and sterilant approved by the Mexican Ministry of Health. Microdacyn has not been reviewed for similar indications by U.S. or European regulatory authorities nor has any regulatory body approved this technology for a specific swine flu indication. The Microcyn Technology is manufactured and marketed as Microdacyn™ in Mexico and is available through physicians and pharmacies as a non-toxic topical antimicrobial (antiseptic).

Regardless of the type of virus, it’s believed that Microdacyn’s mechanism of virus inactivation involves destruction of the proteins on the viral surface responsible for initial infection. Following destruction of these proteins, the viruses are no longer capable of causing any harm, according to a recent news release. Microdacyn has not been reviewed for similar indications by U.S. or European regulatory authorities nor has any regulatory body approved this technology for a specific swine flu indication.

Shares of Oculus were trading at $2.05 before the bell. They closed at $1.20 Tuesday on Nasdaq.

Buzz Stock of the Day – Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA)

Thursday, May 7th, 2009


Shares of our Buzz Stock of the Day — Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: VNDA) — were up as much as 800 percent today on news that the drug maker’s atypical antipsychotic drug, Fanapt was approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA rejected the drug in July 2008. The letter issued by the FDA at that time raised concerns about the efficacy of Fanapt and urged Vanda to conduct a new clinical trial and collect additional safety data.


Vanda instead chose to resubmit the drug to the FDA last November with additional data from its existing clinical trials. Most investors considered this strategy a long shot. Many analysts either dropped coverage of VNDA or downgraded the stock, and shares of VNDA dropped well below $1, which valued the company at less than its cash on hand.

The FDA’s approval of the drug was based on two studies in which Fanapt performed better than placebo, but the drug doesn’t stack up as well against existing schizophrenia treatments, including Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal and Pfizer’s Geodon, according to a recent article.

Also benefitting from today’s news was Titan Pharmaceuticals (Pink Sheets: TTNP), which is entitled to receive royalties on global net sales of Fanapt equal to 8% on annual net sales up to $200 million, and 10 percent on annual net sales above $200 million. Shares of TTNP were up as much as 1400 percent at mid-day trading today.

Global sales from the class of atypical antipsychotics exceeded U.S. $20 billion in 2007.

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