Market Currents

• Monday, November 16, 2009

• 09:22 AM GlaxoSmithKline (GSK +0.6%) and Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (NABI +30.5%) agree to work together to develop vaccines to help smokers kick the habit. Nabi to receive $40M up front, and milestone payments that could reach more than $500M. Comment!

• Wednesday, October 28, 2009

• 10:24 AM GlaxoSmithKline (GSK): Q3 net profit of £1.34B vs. consensus of £1.19B. Sales of £6.76B (+15%), in line. GSK sees Q4 improvement based on strong flu drug sales. Shares -0.3%. (MW) Comment!

• Friday, October 23, 2009

• 13:13 PM Vaccine makers GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) and AstraZeneca (AZN) report earnings next week, and all expect a lift from H1N1 vaccines and flu drugs along with other healthcare firms. Even so, production delays and a regulatory problem are straining U.S. vaccine supplies. 1 Comment

• Friday, October 16, 2009

• 14:16 PM The Alabama Supreme Court overturns fines of more than $274M levied against AstraZeneca (AZN), Novartis (NVS) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for allegedly tweaking drug prices to overcharge state Medicaid. 3 Comments

• Tuesday, October 13, 2009

• 12:48 PM Pennsylvania jurors order GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to pay $2.5M to a family claiming that Glaxo's antidepressant Paxil caused birth defects. It's a key win in the first of some 600 cases to come to trial. Paxil generated about $942M in sales last year. Comment!

• Tuesday, October 6, 2009

• 09:06 AM GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) gets another 22 government orders for its H1N1 swine flu vaccine, taking the total number of doses ordered to 440M, worth $3.5B. "The market may look through GSK's pandemic sales as being a one-off," Citigroup says in a note this morning. "However, we believe that pandemic sales will lead to potential earnings surprises..." 1 Comment

• Thursday, September 10, 2009

• 07:45 AM Dynavax Technologies (DVAX) +36% premarket after the FDA gives it the green light to move forward with its experimental Heplisav hepatitis B vaccine. The vaccine was put on hold 18 months ago due to safety concerns, and had largely been written off by investors. The only other hepatitis B vaccine on the market is GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK -0.4%) Energix-B. (PR, Reuters) Comment!

• Sunday, September 6, 2009

• 17:10 PM According to leaked documents ahead of Wednesday's advisory committee meeting, the FDA will downplay safety concerns about GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) cervical cancer vaccine Cervarix. If approved, it would mark the first time since the 1930s the FDA has has allowed a drug with a patented "adjuvant," or vaccine booster, which could ease the use of adjuvants in other vaccines, including ones against swine flu. Comment!

• Friday, September 4, 2009

• 12:42 PM A cervical cancer vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) prevents lesions, the FDA found as it considers an end-of-month approval of the first competitor to Merck's (MRK) Gardasil. More miscarriages were reported with the GSK drug, Cervarix, though the FDA says the data "do not establish a causal relationship." Comment!

• Wednesday, August 26, 2009

• 10:56 AM Human Genome Sciences (HGSI +15.1%) rallying for a second day as the rumor mill churns about a possible takeover by partner GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and biotech stocks in general are following. Myriad Genetics (MYGN) is up 16.5% after last night's positive earnings report. Comment!

• Monday, August 24, 2009

• 16:22 PM The FDA has linked weight-loss drugs from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Roche (RHHBY.PK) to 32 reports of liver injury from 1999 to 2008. Glaxo's Alli and Roche's Xenical both contain orlistat, which blocks fat absorption. The FDA stopped short of recommending discontinued use of the drugs. Comment!

• Sunday, August 16, 2009

• 18:20 PM Novartis (NVS) countersues GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for patent infringement in retaliation for Glaxo's ongoing legal action against Novartis. Their dispute focuses on techniques used to produce vaccines that prevent childhood illnesses. Comment!

• Tuesday, July 28, 2009

• 07:41 AM Amgen (AMGN) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) agree to jointly market an osteoperosis treatment that could see annual sales of $2B within a decade if approved by regulators. Premarket: AMGN +3.3%. 1 Comment

• Monday, July 20, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: HGSI +247%. CIT +84%. HAR +17%. HEB +8%. CTIC +8%. RHT +7%. LYG +7%. ABK +5%. LVS +5%. HL +4%. NXG +4%. CAT +4%. HAL +4%. TGB +4%. AUY +4%. INFY +4%. HAS +4%. HMY +4%. HBC +4%. ERX +4%. GSK +4%.
  Losers: RT -9%. WFT -8%. FXP -7%. 1 Comment

• Wednesday, July 1, 2009

• 15:52 PM The FDA orders harsher "boxed" warnings - the sternest that prescription drugs can carry and still stay on the market - for anti-smoking drugs Zyban (GSK +2%) and Chantix (PFE -0.6%). Comment!

• Tuesday, June 16, 2009

• 07:38 AM GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) teams up with Indian drug maker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (RDY) to focus on emerging markets, excluding India. For Glaxo, this is just the latest in a series of moves designed to expand the company's emerging markets presence. Comment!