CV Therapeutics Shares Reverse Course on Positive American College of Cardiology Meetings

Yesterday marked another disappointing day for shares of CV Therapeutics Inc. (CVTX) as the stock plummeted to hit another 52-week low following a downgrade by Deutsche Securities analyst Jennifer Chao. The analyst lowered her price target from $8 to $2 and in a note to clients, said that "as a result of Ranexa's diminished outlook we believe it may be difficult for CV Therapeutics to raise additional capital in order to support high operational expenses supporting Ranexa sales and expect increasing pressure on [the company's] ability to remain solvent."

However, the stock is overcoming most of its losses from Monday's trading session after a presentation of the company's results of the MERLIN TIMI-36 study at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Sessions in New Orleans earlier this morning. The company announced that though the MERLIN TIMI-36 study ranolazine (Ranexa) did not produce a statistically significant reduction in the composite endpoint of cardiovascular death, heart attack and recurrent ischemia, ranolazine showed a statistically significant reduction in recurrent ischemia alone. In addition, in the ranolazine group there was a statistically significant reduction in the worsening of angina requiring intensification of therapy.

According to wire reports, the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology has piqued interest in the company. Lehman Brothers analyst Jim Birchenough says that overall interest in Ranexa has been high with regular flow and a mix of questions on safety, efficacy and drug mechanism and anecdotes of success from some physicians, particularly success with anginal equivalents like shortness of breath and exertional fatigue." The analyst holds a $40 price target on CV Therapeutics. The stock is higher by $1.28, or 18.96%, to $8.03 on very heavy volume of 14.18 million shares 15 minutes before the closing bell.

CVTX 1-yr chart: