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Buyout target Immucor Inc. (BLUD) balloons in price

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Immucor Inc. (Nasdaq: BLUD) shares surged 30.2% to $26.98 after the provider of blood-transfusion systems agreed to be acquired by TPG Capital for $1.97 billion. Shares in the company totaled 21.6, or more than 40 times its normal daily average.

The company, based in Norcross, Ga., issued a release July 5 saying that, under the terms of the agreement, Immucor shareholders will receive $27.00 in cash for each share of Immucor common stock they own, representing a premium of approximately 30.2% over the closing share price on July 1, 2011, the last full trading day before today’s announcement, and a premium of approximately 35.6% to Immucor’s average closing price over the last month. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2011. The agreement was unanimously approved by the Immucor Board of Directors.

“This transaction enables our shareholders to realize significant, immediate value while at the same time allowing Immucor to remain well-positioned to continue pursuinggrowth opportunities,” said Joseph Rosen, Immucor Board Chairman in the release.

“Our Board is pleased with the outcome of the process we followed leading to this transaction, and believes that this transaction is in the best interests of our shareholders.”

Founded in 1982, Immucor manufactures and sells a complete line of reagents and systems used by hospitals, reference laboratories and donor centers to detect and identify certain properties of the cell and serum components of blood prior to transfusion

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Zalicus Inc. (ZLCS) gains from ratings boost

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Zalicus Inc. (Nasdaq: ZLCS) shares rose 11.6% to $2.60 after Oppenheimer & Co. initiated coverage of the drug-development firm with an outperform rating. Volume for the stock was 2.1 million shares, outdistancing its all-day average.

An article posted Tuesday on the site benzinga.com reported that Oppenheimer analysts also set a $4.00 price target on the stock.

“Zalicus has one approved drug and a pipeline of promising candidates targeting potentially large commercial opportunities,” the site quotes Oppenheimer as writing. “The leading drugs in the pipeline are Synavive, which is in development for rheumatoid arthritis, and Prednisporin, an agent for allergic conjuctivitis (eye allergies).

“Additionally, Zalicus has two drug discovery platforms—one focused on finding synergies between two pharmaceutical agents and another is aimed at the discovery of new ion channel modulators. Both may produce additional drug candidates for clinical development and/or partnering.”

Zalicus management was not available for comment. Zalicus, based in Cambridge, Mass., is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops novel treatments for patients suffering from pain and immuno-inflammatory diseases.

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Icagen Inc. (ICGN) takes flight on hint of Pfizer takeover

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Icagen Inc. (Nasdaq: ICGN) shares rocketed 113.8% to $5.13 after drug manufacturer Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) said in a regulatory filing late Friday that it was looking at a possible strategic alliance with the biopharmaceutical company. Volume for Icagen totaled 1.8 million shares in the early trading hours of Monday, compared to an all-day average of 71,000.

A news release was issued soon after the market closed on Friday, June 24. In the release, Icagen put out a statement in which it acknowledged that it is currently engaged in preliminary discussions with Pfizer regarding a potential strategic transaction, but, quote “no definitive agreement has been reached.

“There can be no assurance that any agreement will be reached,” the statement continued, “or that a transaction will be consummated. Icagen does not plan to make future announcements with respect to this matter unless and until its Board of Directors has approved a specific transaction or an extension or other modification of the existing collaboration agreement and it has entered into a definitive agreement or the current discussions have terminated.”

Icagen, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel orally-administered small molecule drugs that modulate ion channel targets. Utilizing its proprietary know-how and integrated scientific and drug development capabilities, Icagen has identified multiple drug candidates that modulate ion channels.

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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) jumps on OK for eye drug

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: REGN) shares rose 8.4% to $59.65 after U.S. regulators had released a report saying its experimental treatment prevents a cause of vision loss. Volume for the stock registered 1.29 million, just outdistancing its all-day average of 1.24 million.

The Food and Drug Administration said the company’s drug, VEGF Trap-Eye, worked as well as Roche (RHHBY.PK)‘s Lucentis in treating an eye condition that is the leading cause of blindness in American seniors.’

On Friday, an outside panel of experts will vote on whether the drug should be approved. The FDA is not required to follow the group’s advice, though it often does.
Analysts have high expectations for Regeneron’s drug because it designed to be injected less frequently than Lucentis: once every two months, versus once a month.

Dr. Michael Aberman, Regeneron’s vice president of strategy and investor relations, was quoted in a Forbes article on June 15 as saying, “It’s a big deal for patients and caregivers if you can get less frequent injections in the eye. It’s a great advancement in quality of life and compliance.”

The FDA said studies of VEGF Trap-Eye showed it worked as well as Lucentis in maintaining patients’ vision after one year of treatment.

If approved, VEGF Trap-Eye will be the first drug to compete with Roche’s Lucentis, which posts sales of about $1.5 billion annually.

Founded on the principle that strong science would lead to important new medicines, according to the company website, the Tarrytown, New York-based Regeneron has become an integrated biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines for the treatment of serious medical conditions.

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OXiGENE Inc. (OXGN) surges on new cancer treatment

Monday, June 6th, 2011

OXiGENE Inc. (Nasdaq: OXGN) shares rose 13.8% to $4.87, after the biotech company on Saturday reported encouraging data on a potential treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. Share volume for the stock tallied 2.3 million shares, already surpassing an all-day high of 1.7 million.

The San Francisco-based company announced Saturday that it presented updated safety and clinical activity data from the FALCON trial, a stratified randomized, controlled Phase 2 study of ZYBRESTAT™ (fosbretabulin tromethamine, or CA4P) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.

An updated analysis conducted approximately 11 months after the enrollment of the last patient in June 2010 showed that the combination regimen of ZYBRESTAT plus bevacizumab, carboplatin and paclitaxel (ZYBRESTAT Arm) was observed to be well-tolerated with no significant cumulative toxicities when compared with the control arm of the study. In addition, a pre-specified subgroup analysis showed meaningful improvements in median time to progression for patients with poor performance status.

Said Dr. Peter Langecker, CEO of OXiGENE, “With several clinical trials completed in multiple indications, we now have a large body of data showing the excellent combinability potential of ZYBRESTAT.

“In addition,” Langecker continued, “this study provides data in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) suggesting that ZYBRESTAT may benefit patients with more advanced stages of disease…. We believe that designing a development plan based on targeting this subgroup of patients could represent a sensible and achievable clinical strategy and we look forward to discussing further development of ZYBRESTAT with potential pharmaceutical partners.”

OXiGENE is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics to treat cancer and eye diseases. The Company’s major focus is developing vascular disrupting agents that selectively disrupt abnormal blood vessels associated with solid tumor progression and visual impairment.

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