MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Tuesday, June 18
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6:44 PM More on China Cord Blood (CO): FQ4 easily beats estimates across the board on a 33% jump in total sales. Accumulated subscriber base rose by 30.1% Y/Y. Gross margin also rose to 79.8%, from 76.6%. Shares +3.4% AH. Comment!
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6:03 PM Biodel (BIOD) is trading lower in the post session after announcing a public offering to sell an undisclosed number of shares with a 30-day option on an additional 15% to cover overallotments, if any. Shares -8.2% AH. Comment!
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5:24 PM Long-term care provider AdCare Health Systems (ADK) says the NYSE has approved its plan to regain compliance with the exchange's continued listing standards was accepted. The NYSE granted until July 16, an extension for the company to regain compliance with respect to the Annual Report, and until August 15 for its 10-Q. Shares +1.7% AH. Comment!
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3:53 PM Traders place bullish bets in the options market on Infinity Pharmaceuticals (INFI +13.5%). Notably, 2K July $16 strike puts were sold today and volume in the $17.50 strike far exceeds open interest as the stock rallies double-digits. Comment!
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3:21 PM J.P. Morgan isn't giving up on GenMark Diagnostics (GNMK -12.2%) despite the shares' ~35% decline since June 10. Analyst Tycho Peterson acknowledges the company's tepid guidance, but maintains an Overweight rating on the stock. PT lowered to $15 from $17. Comment!
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2:45 PM Bill Ackman's Pershing Square says Herbalife (HLF +1.6%) "refuses" to release actual sales data, which violates a California injunction, and is requesting that regulators "promptly" initiate a probe of the company. Ackman says the release of the actual data collected by its distributors would "put to rest" whether it is or isn't a pyramid scheme. 30 Comments
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2:11 PM Cytokinetics (CYTK +24%) soars today, after its selection for presenting results from a Phase II trial of its of omecamtiv mecarbil at a "Hot Line Late Breaking Trials Session" at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2013 in late August sent signals that its experimental drug for acute heart failures will have success in a mid-stage trial. Comment!
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1:09 PM STAAR Surgical (STAA +11%) soars again today, tacking on big gains to yesterday's 6% move after it said it had received regulatory approvals to market its Visian Implantable Collamer Lens technology in Korea and the ANMAT in Argentina. STAA's Asia Pacific Regional President says the refractive procedure market in Korea is both significant and fast growing, and the approval represents "a very important milestone." Comment!
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12:44 PM MannKind (MNKD -12%) takes a hit today on no specific new-related driver. Speculation is circulating that a number of hedge funds are leaning on the shares to flush out supply from retail investors. 8 Comments
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12:33 PM Amarin (AMRN -0.5%) continues its slide on the back of Friday's news that NCE status on Vascepa was once again delayed. However, MKM Partners analyst Jon LeCroy thinks the delay may have a silver lining. Lecroy says that while the NCE designation is the preferred outcome here, the delay also prevents the company from being targeted for a takeover. The shares are likely to remain under pressure until an NCE decision is made though, which MKM expects to come around July 12. 4 Comments
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12:21 PM RedHill Biopharma (RDHL +5%) says its New Drug Application for marketing approval in the U.S. of RHB-103 by the company and its co-development partner, IntelGenx (IGXT +5.3%), has been accepted for substantive review by the FDA. RHB-103 is an oral, thin film formulation of rizatriptan, which is used to treat acute migraine. The application is subject to a standard 10-month review period and will have a PDUFA goal date of Feb. 3, 2014. Comment!
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11:27 AM UBS initiates Insmed (INSM +0.7%) at Buy with a $17.50 price target representing a 37% upside. Arikace "has a solid chance of success in its primary indication of cystic fibrosis," analyst Matthew Harrison says, adding that the "underappreciated" non-tuberculous mycobacteria opportunity could be another growth catalyst going forward. (Previous: Arikace's NTM indication possibly more compelling than CF opportunity) 1 Comment
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11:09 AM Stemline Therapeutics (STML +10%) moves up again today after being initiated at Ladenburg Thalmann with a Buy rating and a hefty $36 price target. The stock has been moving steadily higher over the past few weeks, after the FDA granted an Orphan Drug Designation to its treatment for blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm, SL-401. Comment!
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10:59 AM Health Net (HNT +1.1%) reaffirms its FY13 guidance of $2.20 - $2.30 per share on revenues of between $10.7B - $11.2B. Street estimates are for an EPS of $2.23 on revenues of $11.17B. Comment!
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10:48 AM Jefferies sees a 33% upside for shares of AcelRx (ACRX -1.1%), raising its price target to $13 from $8. Analyst Corey Davis makes "numerous model adjustments as [the company] moves closer to an NDA filing for ARX-01" and notes that the "next catalyst" is analyst day on July 27. Mark your calendar. 1 Comment
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10:45 AM Sunshine Heart (SSH +8%) pops after achieving a milestone for its flagship C-Pulse device, which is designed to treat Class III and ambulatory Class IV heart failure. The company said the devices has been implanted in 25 patients in North America and Germany, with the 25th patient implanted on June 14th at the German Heart Institute in Berlin. 2 Comments
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10:10 AM Leerink Swann (Outperform) is "marginally more encouraged" on Genomic Health (GHDX -0.5%) after conversations with two urologists. As it turns out, both doctors "had already ordered" the company's prostate cancer test even though they "had mixed views" on its utility. Apparently this is good news as analyst Dan Leonard now sees "upside to prostate test volume expectations." Comment!
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9:54 AM Goldman downgrades Charles River Labs (CRL -1.7%) to Sell from Neutral and lowers its price target to $38 from $44. Analyst Robert Jones cites (among other factors) "recent … channel checks [which] indicate still subdued early-stage spend and excess capacity as pharma prioritizes late-stage pipelines." Comment!
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9:43 AM More on GSK (GSK -0.3%) / Aspen (APNHF.PK) deal: Reuters speculates that GSK's sale of its thrombosis drug brands Arixtra and Fraxiparine to Aspen could be worth £700M, or twice this year's anticipated sales of around £350M. That would be down from £420M in 2013 and £510M in 2011. Around 1,000 GSK workers, mostly in France, would transfer to Aspen. News of the prospective sale prompted speculation that GSK may look to offload other older drugs. Comment!
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9:31 AM Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD +0.4%) says data from a Phase III trial of pimavanserin suggest the treatment is well-tolerated and effective when administered long-term. (See also: JMP, SA contributor weigh in on ACAD) 1 Comment
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9:29 AM Cytokinetics' (CYTK) results from a Phase II trial of its of omecamtiv mecarbil treatment for heart failure have been accepted for presentation at a "Hot Line Late Breaking Trials Session" at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2013, which is taking place from Aug. 31 until Sep. 4. Cytokinetics' hasn't revealed any results but shares are up 14.4%. Those of partner Amgen (AMGN) are a mere +0.7%. In other news, Cytokinetics is set to join the Russell Global Index on June 28. Comment!
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8:33 AM GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has received an offer from South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare (APNHF.PK) for its thrombosis drug brands Arixtra and Fraxiparine (excluding China, India and Pakistan), and the related manufacturing site. GSK said any sale would fit in with its strategy of focusing on growth products and the delivery of its pipeline. (PR) Comment!
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8:19 AM Patients with Parkinson's disease showed a 60% mean improvement in motor function after six months in a trial of Boston Scientific's (BSX) Vercise DBS (deep brain stimulation) System. The implant is designed to selectively stimulate targeted areas when inserted in the brain. The study involved 40 subjects. (PR) Comment!
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7:55 AM Royalty Pharma withdraws its request for a judicial review of a decision which required it to lapse its bid for Elan (ELN). Previously, the Irish Takeover Panel said the company could not modify the terms and conditions of its takeover bid after the fact. (previous) Comment!
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3:49 AM Medtronic's (MDT) controversial Infuse bone-growth implant for spine surgery is no better than a traditional operation, two independent analyses have found, with the rates of complication similar regardless of the treatment used. Infuse generated $528M in sales in the last fiscal year. Medtronic, which commissioned the studies, had been hit by accusations that doctors who had originally supported Infuse had financial ties to the company worth millions of dollars. 1 Comment
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