MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Friday, May 17, 2013
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4:23 PM Gilead Sciences (GILD +2.4%) finishes higher today after UBS raised its price target to $67 from $63 and reiterated its Buy rating. Analyst Matthew Roden sees ongoing strength for its HIV franchise, saying the firm conducted a survey of top-volume prescribers to gauge initial receptiveness and expected utilization once available,and results were highly supportive of TAF, its HIV treatment, as a next-gen replacement for Viread. 1 Comment
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3:56 PM Oncothyreon (ONTY +0.9%) gets a boost from Wedbush today, as the firm upgrades he stock to Outperform and raises the price target from $2 to $5. Wedbush says that its partner Merck KgA may be successful in negotiating a path to approval for Stimuvax with the existing and anticipated new data from ongoing clinical trials. Merck expects to provide an update on their discussion with regulators in 2013. 1 Comment
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3:43 PM Shares of Amarin (AMRN -1.1%) rebound somewhat from an earlier dip on news that its Vascepa wasn't in the FDA's Orange Book for April. 5 Comments
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2:34 PM Actavis' (ACT +1.5%) pursuit of Warner Chilcott (WCRX +0.5%) may be a way to defend itself from a potential takeovers by Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX +2.5%) and Mylan (MYL +2.2%). VRX routinely looks at potential acquisitions, but to date has stayed away from WCRX because of its dwindling pipeline, so a combined ACT/WCRX deal would be out of the picture. And it would be virtually impossible for MYL, with a market value of $11.7B, to buy the combined firm. It already has about $6B in debt and Street estimates put a combined companies near $21B. Comment!
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12:48 PM Walgreen (WAG +1.3%) and Alliance Boots receive the regulatory clearances for their equity investment in AmerisourceBergen (ABC +0.4%). The clearances permit both to purchase up to 7% of ABC in the open market, and the exercise of two warrants for 16% in the aggregate in 2016 and 2017. Comment!
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12:36 PM BioLineRx (BLRX -0.6%) enters into an at-the-market sales agency agreement with Stifel Nicolaus. Under the terms of the agreement, BLRX may from time to time, in its discretion, sell up to a maximum of $20M ADSs. Each ADS represents ten ordinary shares. Comment!
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12:23 PM Cempra (CEMP -0.2%) fails to get any reaction out of Jefferies' initiating coverage today with a Buy rating and $10 price target. The firm cites optimism over its pipeline, saying that its lead drug solithromycin is the key value driver. However, the company has limited capital, which has impacted its ability to conduct Phase 3 trials in an expedited manner. It will likely need to secure additional financing to further advance its programs, leaving the the stock with a potential dilutive overhang. Comment!
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12:06 PM Thoratec Corporation (THOR -1.5%) says it's received FDA approval to market the HeartMate II Pocket Controller, the small face of the HeartMate II LVAD System. The device controls the left ventricular assist device or LVAD, which is a kind of mechanical heart which is put inside a person's chest, to help the heart pump oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. Comment!
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11:23 AM Impax Laboratories (IPXL -1.2%) says its Generic Division, Global Pharmaceuticals, has begun shipping its generic drug Zomig, which is used for the treatment of migraines in adults, as part of a licensing and distribution agreement with AstraZeneca (AZN). Comment!
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11:05 AM Triple-S Management (GTS -4.8%) slides after pricing a secondary offering of 5.4M Class B shares at $18.25, a 4.5% discount to Thursday's close. As part of the Offering, 4,400,368 shares were sold to the public in a conversion from Class A shares, and 1M shares were purchased by the Company. Triple-S will not receive any proceeds from the Offering. Comment!
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10:51 AM Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA +20%) pops after Lazard pounds the table on the stock and ups its price target by nearly 55% to a whopping $17 from $11. The firm cites positive checks from sleep specialists on tasimelteon for non-24 hour insomnia disorder. Comment!
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10:37 AM Halozyme Therapeutics (HALO +1%) continues its run again today, on the back of an 18% gain in yesterday's regular session. Late Wednesday, the company said that positive clinical data from a Phase 1b trial of PEGPH20 in combination with gemcitabine to treat patients with stage IV metastatic pancreatic cancer will be presented at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. Comment!
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10:08 AM Stemline Therapeutics (STML +6.2%) ramps higher after it prices its 4.2M share public offering at $14.50 per share, just a 3.3% discount to yesterday's close. The pricing puts the tally on gross proceeds at around $60M. The company intends to use the proceeds to fund ongoing clinical trials of its potential leukemia and lymphoma treatments SL-401 and SL-701, as well as for other general corporate purposes. Comment!
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9:46 AM Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY -0.2%) pares the early gains it racked up after saying preclinical data demonstrate RNAi therapeutics targeting ALAS-1 can suppress the "toxic heme biosynthesis intermediaries that cause the symptoms and disease pathology of acute intermittent porphyria." The company says the findings support its ALN-AS1 program. (PR) Comment!
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8:22 AM The FDA clears Oramed Pharmaceuticals' (ORMP) Investigational New Drug application for the oral insulin capsule ORMD-0801. Earlier this month, SA contributor Len Zehr flagged the IND application as a catalyst. Shares +14.84% premarket. (PR) Comment!
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8:05 AM EnteroMedics (ETRM) rises 15% before the bell after saying it has concluded a pre-Premarket Approval (so you're saying its preliminary?) application meeting at which the FDA said that once the company's application for the Maestro Rechargeable System's VBLOC vagal blocking therapy is accepted, and once a detailed review of the data is validated, the company can "anticipate presenting the PMA before a future FDA Advisory panel." Parsing that language: ETRM plans to submit a PMA in Q2. (PR) Comment!
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7:18 AM Stryker (SYK) is downgraded to Reduce at SunTrust as a bank survey sows ACO's, CMS bundling, and readmission will negatively impact hips and knees pricing. Comment!
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