MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Today - Wednesday, May 22, 2013
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1:08 PM Insmed (INSM +16.9%), which is now up a cool 74.5% since April 23, gets its price target hiked to $22 from $13 at Leerink Swann and $17 from $12 at Canaccord. Leerink cites the now all-too-familiar Arikace Phase 3 data catalyst and notes that "…after speaking with multiple MEDACorp KOLs and performing an extensive review of applicable literature, we have developed more conviction that Arikace is poised to be become a first-in-line treatment for non-tuberculous mycobacteria infections, [which may] present an even more compelling market opportunity than cystic fibrosis." Comment!
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12:47 PM A takeover of MannKind (MNKD +15.9%) is "highly probable" SA contributor George Rho says, in an article published this morning which suggests $27.50/share as a ballpark figure (that's a 413% upside from Tuesday's close if you're inclined to keep score). Rho also notes that his "assumptions and projections would have to be considerably off the mark for the stock not to have substantial upside potential." Meanwhile, in the options market, an investor rolled a short position in January $5 strike calls up to the January $9 strike — 31K contracts traded at those two strikes this morning. Comment!
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12:40 PM LipoScience (LPDX +3.4%) trades up today after announcing the availability of its NMR lipoprotein particle testing using the Vantera Clinical Analyzer through Mayo Medical Laboratories. The analysis provides physicians and patients with a detailed assessment of cardiovascular disease risk from a single blood test that measures the concentration of low-density lipoprotein particles and other lipoprotein information. Comment!
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11:20 AM GlaxoSmithKline (GSK +1%) says it's been awarded up to $200M by the U.S. government to develop new antibiotics. Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will collaborate with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to develop several antibiotics to fight antibiotic resistance and bio-terrorism. GSK will receive $40M for the initial 18-month agreement and up to a total of $200M if the agreement is renewed over five years. 1 Comment
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11:09 AM Syneron Medical (ELOS +2.3%) moves up after reporting a slightly better Q1 on the top line. Total revenue decreased on a Y/Y basis however, largely due to lower PAD segment revenue in EMEA and Japan, which was partially offset by moderate revenue growth in all other geographies and growth in EBU segment revenue. The company also said its board of directors has appointed Amit Meridor as the company's new president, reporting directly to CEO, Shimon Eckhouse. Existing board member David Schlachet has also been appointed as chairman. Comment!
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10:37 AM Rigel Pharmaceuticals (RIGL +0.4%) says it's made clinical advancement in three programs currently in development. The first program is R348, a topical ophthalmic formulation of a JAK/SYK inhibitor being developed to treat dry eye disease. The company notes that the drug was well tolerated in Phase 1 trials, and it plans to initiate Phase 2 trials soon. The other two are oncology programs being conducted by corporate partners, including an AXL kinase inhibitor under development by BerGenBio AS and a ligase inhibitor by Daiichi Sankyo (DSNKY.PK). Comment!
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8:24 AM Kindred Healthcare (KND) +2.25% premarket after getting an upgrade to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna. The shares are up ~20% so far this month after the company beat earnings on May 1. Comment!
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8:18 AM Pfizer (PFE) plans to spin off its remaining stake in Zoetis (ZTS) through a tax-free exchange offer in which Pfizer owners can exchange their Pfizer shares for stock in Zoetis owned by Pfizer (got that?). Pfizer has received a waiver of the 180-day lock-up from the book runners of the Zoetis IPO. PFE +2.1%, ZTS -1.2% premarket. (PR) 6 Comments
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5:17 AM Citi upgrades Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) to Buy from Neutral and raises its price target to $55 from $33 saying the company's "very broad checkpoint agent [is] positioned to capture a very significant share of an emergent $24 billion checkpoint agent market." Citi also hikes its FY17 EPS forecast by 31%. 1 Comment
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013
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7:38 PM Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals (CYCC) closes its previously announced underwritten offering totaling 6,833,334 shares at $3 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $20.5M. Shares +1% AH. Comment!
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6:12 PM Four companies ignoring their shareholders' votes, according to Theo Francis: Impax Labs (IPXL), where three directors were retained despite failing to reach 50% approval; Occidental Petro (OXY), which counted 55M non-voting shares as voting against a proposal; Hecla Mining (HL), which left open a say-on-pay vote for an extra month; and NYSE Euronext (NXY), which continues to thwart the right to call special shareholder meetings. Comment!
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5:50 PM Merck (MRK) says it's entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement with Goldman Sachs to repurchase $5B worth of stock, as the company looks to alternative methods for increasing shareholder value. The company has been dealing with the loss of exclusivity for its blockbuster asthma-and-allergy treatment Singulair, leading to generic competition that wiped out much of the drug's more than $5B in peak annual sales. Shares +1% AH. Comment!
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5:00 PM Gilead Sciences (GILD) says its Marketing Authorization Application for sofosbuvir, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus, has been fully validated by the European Medicines Agency and is now under assessment. 3 Comments
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4:18 PM Herbalife's (HLF +2.7%) naming of PricewaterhouseCoopers as its new outside auditor puts an end to a six-week search, which turned out to be an unusually difficult and drawn out process - the company actually had to seek counsel from the SEC to avoid conflict of interest issues - and was intensely scrutinized because of the bitter public battle between Ackman and Icahn over HLF's business model. The news is a positive for the shares today, if only because the company has been blocked temporarily from raising money in the markets because of its lack of an auditor. 2 Comments
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