Posts Tagged ‘pharmaceutical stocks’

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.

    Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NBIX) – Buzz Stock of the Day

    Thursday, June 17th, 2010

    We first covered Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: NBIX) in late May 2010, when the stock was trading at $3.40 a share. About a week after our post, shares of NBIX climbed to a high of $5.20 a share. Neurocrine rallied again on Thursday, climbing almost 8 percent to a 52-week high of $5.79 a share in morning trading after the company announced a development deal with privately held German drug maker, Boehringer Ingelheim.

    [–quote–]

    The two companies will work together to research and develop small molecule GPR119 agonists for the treatment of Type II diabetes and other indications . Neurocrine will get a $10 million upfront payment and research funding to support discovery efforts. The company is also eligible to receive up to $225 million in milestone payments, according to Neurocrine.

    A day before, Neurocrine licensed the worldwide rights to its experimental endometriosis drug to Abbott Laboratories. Under terms of the deal announced Wednesday, Abbott gains worldwide rights to elagolix in exchange for a $50 million upfront payment to Neurocrine. Abbott agreed to pay all future development costs for the drug. Neurocrine is eligible for up to $500 million in future milestone payments as well as royalties based on sales of elagolix if approved.

    Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co. (PPCO) – Buzz Stock of the Day

    Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

    Shares of drug maker, Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co. (Nasdaq: PPCO) were up as much as 21 percent in morning trading on Tuesday after the company announced that it settled a patent litigation with Impax Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq: IPXL) over the production and sale of a generic version of the pain drug Opana, which is jointly developed by Penwest and Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENDP).

    Penwest shares rose as high as $3.38, up from Monday’s closing price of $2.78 per share.

    [–quote–]

    Penwest and Endo have agreed to grant Impax a license to sell the copycat on Jan. 1, 2013. Impax will have 180 days of marketing exclusivity for 5 mg, 10 mg, 20 mg, 30 mg and 40 mg tablets of the drug, Reuters reported. Impax could also get up to $40 million in milestones from Endo for an Impax brand drug the two companies will promoted together outside the field of neurology. Further terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

    Endo and Penwest also settled a similar patent litigation with Sandoz Inc, a unit of Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG (NOVN.VX), granting Sandoz a license to sell the generic of the drug on Sept. 15, 2012.

    Akorn, Inc. (AKRX) – Buzz Stock of the Day

    Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

    Shares of generic drug developer, Akorn, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKRX) began their climb in after-hours trading yesterday after the company announced it swung to a profit in the first quarter.

    The Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based company reported a net income of $3.5 million, or 4 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $10.7 million, or 12 cents a share a year ago. Consolidated revenue for the quarter dipped 7 percent to $20.5 million, due to winding down of the company’s vaccine business segment. Revenue from its core business, consisting of ophthalmic, hospital drugs & injectables and contract services, rose 36 percent to $15.4 million.
    [–quote–]
    Other highlights in the quarter included operating income of $1.8 million, EBITDA of $3.9 million, improved gross margins to 41 percent, and positive cash flow of $2 million.

    “We are off to a solid start for the year,” said Interim CEO, Raj Rai in a statement. “Our strategy to focus on the core business and on operating efficiencies has translated into favorable results. In addition, we are experiencing strong demand for Akorn products as well as for our third-party contract manufacturing business.”

    Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp (RPTP) — Buzz Stock of the Day

    Monday, May 3rd, 2010

    Shares of drug developer, Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp. (Nasdaq: RPTP) were up as much as 58 percent from Friday’s close, in morning trading today after the company announced that a mid-stage study of its liver disease drug met its main goal.


    The mid-stage study had 11 adolescent patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, who were given oral doses of up to 1,000 mg of Raptor’s drug twice daily for six months, followed by a six-month post-treatment monitoring period.

    The patients had at least twice normal levels of two liver enzymes that are often associated with a presence of liver problems. The patients showed a decline in the level of one enzyme — alanine transaminase (ALT) — during the treatment period, with seven of 11 patients achieving a greater than 50 percent reduction, and in six of 11, the enzyme reduced to within normal range.

    Levels of the second enzyme, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), also saw significant improvements with patients seeing 41 percent reduction by the end of the treatment phase.

    Raptor is also developing its drug, DR Cysteamine, for genetic disorders like cystinosis and Huntington’s disease.

    C.K. Cooper and Co’s Jeffrey Cohen, who is the sole analyst covering Raptor, said Monday’s news does not change his “hold” rating on the stock.

    “The net-present value of the pipeline is about $2.88,” Cohen said.