Posts Tagged ‘biotech’

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Buzz Stock of the Day – Abraxis Bioscience, Inc. (ABII)

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Cancer treatment developer Abraxis Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABII) announced a $100 million share repurchase program on Monday– a clear sign that management believes the company’s shares are undervalued at current levels. The repurchase of shares will be funded by internal cash resources and made through open market purchases.

“We believe our shares are undervalued and that our strong financial position makes the purchase of our own shares a sound investment at this time,” said Abraxis’ chairman and CEO, Dr. Patrick Shoon-Shiong.

The Los Angeles-based company reported revenue of $345 million in 2008, up from $334 million in the prior year. Gross profit for the year was $306 million, compared with $299 million in 2007.

But the real story at Abraxis, is ABRAXANE, the company’s tumor-targeting cancer treatment that use a protein called albumin to deliver chemotherapy, and does not contain chemical solvents. This eliminates the need for pre-medication with steroids or antihistamines, and significantly reduces the amount of time it takes to administer the treatment.

Last year was a busy year for Abraxis. When the company began “2008, we were commercializing ABRAXANE in the United States and Canada and approval to do so in India,” said Dr. Shoon-Shiong. “By the end of the year, we had commercialization approval in 36 countries.”

The company has also stepped up its marketing efforts in China, and is pushing ahead with the commercialization of ABRAXANE in Japan and Russia.

The company has to restructure its sales force after it ended its two-year, co-promotion agreement for ABRAXANE with Astra Zeneca. However, in an earnings call, Dr. Shoon-Shiong stated that the company could start seeing the benefits of its restructuring in the second half of the year.

Abraxis’ EU sales force in the European Union is provided by Innovex, a unit of QuintilesTransnational Corp. The company currently has five sales representatives in the UK, eight in Germany and expects to add eight in Italy this year and an additional sales force in Spain.

ABRAXANE was launched in the UK in December 2008, and the company plans to “continue this roll-out to additional nations in Europe on a country-by-country basis,” said Dr. Shoon-Shiong.

Abraxis is in good shape financially. As of December 31, 2008, the company had $607 million in cash and no long-term debt.

“I think the second half of 2009 would be a very exciting time for us,” said Dr. Shoon-Shiong.

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Buzz Stock of the Day- Misonix (MSON)

Monday, April 13th, 2009


There were more than 28,000 prostate cancer-related deaths in 2008.

Many of the current treatments including radiation and hormone therapies either result in a recurrence of the cancer, or have harsh side effects such as osteoporosis and anemia.

Minimally invasive treatments in late clinical trials are showing promise, however.

Our Buzz Stock of the Day — Misonix, Inc. (Nasdaq: MSON) — is developing a prostate cancer therapy based on High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) technology. The company’s HIFU-based therapy is in Phase III clinical trials at a number of academic centers throughout the U.S.

In 1999, Misonix obtained a 20 percent equity position in Focus Surgery, a company leading the way in High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) technology. Misonix manufactures the product for Focus Surgery. Misonix also markets the SB500 in the United Kingdom, Europe and Russia.

Treatment time using HIFU is usually 3-4 hours, and patients will more than likely be discharged the same day, or next day at the doctors discretion, according to Misonix’s Web site.

We like Misonix because the company makes money from its portfolio of ultrasonic medical devices that are being used in cosmetic surgery, neurosurgery, and laparoscopic surgery; is aggressively expanding its geographic footprint, and has a very promising pipeline.

For the three months ended December 31, Misonix reported net income of $194,000, or $0.03 per-share, compared with a net loss of $117,000 or $0.02 per-share. Revenue for the company’s second fiscal quarter increased 5.1 percent over the same period last year, largely due to sales growth for the company’s medical device products.

“Our medical device business made solid progress as we expanded our sales opportunities both domestically and internationally,” said Misonix CEO, Michael McManus in an earnings release.

The company has made continued strides to expand it sales and distribution network recently, and announced several agreements to enter new markets including Eastern Europe, Belgium and Luxenbourg, and Israel.

Misonix also recently strengthened its balance sheet by selling its Ultrasonic Laboratory non-core business for $3.5 million.

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Buzz Stock of the Day- Celgene (CELG)

Monday, March 23rd, 2009


One of two things will happen within the biotech sector over in the short-run:

“We’ll either see a lot of companies disappear after their funds run out, or we’ll see a wave of consolidation in biotech,” said Michael Becker, CEO of consulting firm MD Becker Partners.

Coming to the table with speculative science in today’s market, as IBD pointed out, is an exercise in futility for small biotech companies looking to borrow money, or go public.

If biotech investing is appealing to you, we suggest you look at two criteria for companies:

1. Companies with operating cash flow
2. Companies that are likely acquisition targets

Our Buzz Stock of the Day, Celegene Corp. (Nasdaq: CELG) meets both. The New Jersey-based company generates strong free cash flow, yielded returns of 19.6 percent in 2008, and is projecting future growth.
According to a recent Motley Fool article, more than 95 percent of the Web site’s community are bullish on the stock.

New data expected later this year to support front-line use of the company’s myeloma treatment drug, Revlimid could also result in a “modest” uptick in U.S. adoption of the drug, according to a Cowen and Co. survey.

Celgene Corp. has about $2.2 billion in cash, and has quarterly revenue growth (yoy) of 51.5 percent. The company has operating free cash flow (ttm) of $182.1 million, and out performed the S&P 500 over the last 12 months. Shares of Celgene trade about 18 percent above their 52-week low.

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Buzz Stock of the day- ARAY

Thursday, March 5th, 2009


Companies with disruptive technologies always pop up on our radar. We keep a close eye on them until we start seeing some traction for their products, and then do a little more digging to see if the company has what it takes to be a Buzz Stock.

We’ve had our eye on Accuray, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARAY) for quite some time. The company’s non-invasive CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System has received recognition from both physicians, and customers as of late.

On March 2, Accuray issued a news release that announced “increased interest and continued rapid growth” for CyberKnife. According to the announcement, the number of lung cancer patients treated with CyberKnife grew 52 percent from 2007-2008 in the U.S., and 43 percent worldwide. Additionally the overall number of patients treated with CyberKnife radiosurgery grew to more than 60,000 patients – a 14 percent increase from calendar year 2007 to 2008. In late February, the stock received a 5-star rating from members of the Motley Fool’s CAPS community. The Company has a CAGR of about 52 percent over the past two years and about $110 million of cash in the bank. Currently trading at around $4.00 a share, Accuray could be a good buy at these levels.

Check out this video on CyberKnife to get a better idea of why Accuray is our Buzz Stock of the day.

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