The following was emailed over the weekend to subscribers of Bio-Wire Weekly (sign up today for free)
Newsmakers
1.) Array Biopharma (NASDAQ: ARRY)
Shares of ARRY moved up about 16% last week after Piper Jaffray analyst Edward Tenthoff upgraded the stock from a "Neutral" to a "Overweight" and issued a new price target of $7.00/share citing the partnership potential of two drugs (ARRY-614, ARRY-520) in Array's pipeline. Array also has three other partnered drugs including selumetinib (with AstraZeneca), MEK162 (with Novartis), and danoprevir (with Roche.)2.) Stereotaxis Inc (NASDAQ: STXS)
The market was enthusiastic about STXS in Monday's trading after the company issued apress release about the regulatory approval of Niobe® in Japan, and shares jumped well over $3.00/share until sentiment shifted against the stock after it was publicized that the company received a Nasdaq delisting warning on March 20th due to the company's net worth and revenue stream of under $50 million. There were other listing requirements that the company failed to meet as well, but overall we can infer that fear of a potential public offering or reverse split is preventing the stock from rallying.
3.) Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: IDIX)
Idenix stock dropped about 20% last week after they lost a US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) trial against Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD). From the press release:
"the United States Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board (USPTO) issued a decision in the first phase of the ongoing interference concerning one of the Company's patent applications (U.S. Patent Application 12/131,868) and an issued patent ( U.S. Patent 7,429,572) owned by Gilead Pharmasset LLC ("Gilead") that covers certain 2'-methyl- 2'-fluoro nucleoside compounds useful in the treatment of the hepatitis C virus"
4.) ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc (NASDAQ: ZIOP)
ZIOP shares are down over 63% in the last week after it was revealed that the soft tissue sarcoma development program for their flagship product palifosfamide was being discontinued due to poor clinical trial outcomes (see the press release here). The phase III trial, known as "Picasso 3", put a doxorubicin plus palifosfamide arm against a doxorubicin plus placebo arm and had a primary endpoint determined by PFS (progression free survival) followed by OS (overall survival). We don't have the data, but it seems obvious that palifosfamide would not have met the primary endpoint and could not be brought to FDA approval. For more details, please see our note on ZIOP from March 27th.
5.) Repros Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RPRX)
Repros rallied nearly 80% last week after the company released top-line data from their phase III trial ZA-301, which tested the testosterone boosting Androxal (enclomiphene citrate) on two primary endpoints (see the press release here). The first was based on the return of at least 75% of the Androxal arm to normal testosterone levels, while the second (added by the FDA) was based on 20% outperformance in sperm count in the Androxal arm versus placebo. See more details in our note from March 29th.
Catalyst~Watch
Titan Pharmaceuticals (OTC: TTNP) stayed relatively flat for the week, we're still waiting on the PDUFA goal date of April 30th 2013
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.