NEH

Unilife: Medical Device Innovator Creating Jobs in Pennsylvania

I love it Mike - it's exactly the kind of under-the-radar investment I look for. Sadly, the manufacturing partner is in China, and I don't trust anything manufactured in China these days.

'Blue-Dogging' Health Care

What a waste of time and money this all is ... why can't we just legalize assisted suicide, legalize medical marijuana, tax tax tax booze and cigarettes, and force schools to show videos of what happens to people who smoke, kinda like the DARE thing? I'd like to abolish insurance companies. Period. I favor direct payment to doctors etc for their expertise. It would also reestablish the doctor patient relationship.

An Angry Banker's Foreclosure Solution

Your definition of responsible is too narrow.

Updates to FDA and Clinical Trial Calendars

What part of the body produces liraglutide. Reply if you can, and I will have a look at your website. Thanks BioMedReports.com!


On Mar 08 03:09 PM BioMedReports.com wrote:

> Victoza (liraglutide) is used once-daily via subcutaneous injection.
> Liraglutide is a synthetic glucagons-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and is
> classified as an incretin mimetic type of diabetes drug. GLP-1 is
> a gut-derived regulator of glucose that is released after oral ingestion
> of carbohydrates or gats. Type 2 diabetics have reduced levels of
> GLP-1 in response to carbohydrate intake.
>
> GLP-1 enhances insulin secretion once it enters the systemic circulation
> and also increases the synthesis of insulin. Other effects of GLP-1
> include suppression of glucagon secretion, slower gastric emptying
> (5-10% incidence of nausea), reduced food/caloric intake, and pancreatic
> beta cell proliferation. Liraglutide does not increase insulin secretion
> or suppress glucagons secretion when blood glucose levels are low
> or normal.
>
> Symlin (pramlintide) is used via subcutaneous injection prior to
> meals as a synthetic analog of the hormone amylin which is secreted
> by the pancreatic beta cells along with insulin in health individuals
> (amylin is secreted at much lower levels than insulin, e.g. 1:20
> ratio). Amylin secretion is absent in Type 1 diabetics and decreased
> in Type 2 diabetics. Decreased or absent amylin secretion results
> in inadequate response to insulin treatments leading to weight gain
> and poor glycemic control (especially after meals or postprandial).
>
>
> Amylin replacement therapy results in slower gastric emptying (nausea
> side effect results), decreased appetite/caloric intake, and decreased
> glucagon secretion after meals. In combination with insulin, Symlin
> treatment results in better glycemic control and causes modest weight
> loss (versus weight gain associated with insulin mono-therapy).
>

Updates to FDA and Clinical Trial Calendars

Hi Mike. Is the NovoNordisk Victoza an oral or injectable treatment? Second, can you tell me how this drug differs in action from Symlin, an injectible marketed by Amylin? I read a little about the NovoNordisk drug and though it sounds like it might operate differently from Symlin, the result sounds the same - suppression of glucagon release; weight loss; better control of blood glucose; with potential nausea side-effect. Any comments? Thanks.

Bigger is Not Better in Banking

As a small business owner, what I've seen over the last decade as larger banks eat smaller banks (and now the prospect of mega-banks), is a chilling insensitivity to a major sector of the US economy, namely, the small business owner. So, the world economy aside, I might favor some of these mega-banks being broken up if it will benefit the little guy.

Bigger is Not Better in Banking

As one who never invested in banks because I felt I could never understand their machinations well enough, I value this kind of intelligent "big-picture" strategy Mr. Whalen. Thank you for this great article.

Taking a Risk - With 20% Yields

I predict massive consolidation going forward in dry-bulk shipping. Some of this will be driven by the commodity companies that are placing orders for ships, and also, I project, snapping up smaller players in the industry. For an example, see Rio Vale (RIO). I agree EXM is one with the power and management to succeed, but this economy is for patient players only.

Obama or McCain: Who’s Better for Healthcare Investors?

Lex Luz - I'm with you - let's get rid of ALL the insurance companies - Americans want to be protected from scraping their knees. Insurance companies have seeped into every part of our life. They reward the weak and expect you and me to pay for it. Responsible, hard-working, honest americans should not be paying for the failures of irresponsible and reckless persons. Think how much money you'd have in your pocket if you didn't pay insurance premiums and what that would contribute to the overall economy. It will never happen of course, the lawyers in this country would fight it to the death.

I think states should be allowed the liberty and resources to design public programs for the uninsured - tax dollars would pay for them. A federally administered system would be an unbelievable disaster.

Focusing on Medical Equipment

Well there you go, Boris. We'd make a team, I could scout the companies and you could scratch the numbers. I expect it will narrow in the longer term, but based upon my investment experience this discount will be good for another two years I'd say. I wouldn't bet on more than that. My feeling is Exactech has too much to lose at this point to be anything but squeeky clean.

Focusing on Medical Equipment

Boris, okay. Though my reply may not include the kind of response you are looking for because my investing style may be quite different. I first look at the ownership, ie, the original SEC filings, and follow it from there. I rely on qualitative research more than quantitative research, but also watch carefully all the valuation ratios and cash flow. I've had Exactech for almost two years and watched it plateau before.

- It lapped around the first plateau at $14-$16 before bumping up to its high of $29 and now its lapping around $27/$28.

- There is alot of family ownership, with a second generation on board, and I think they have and will show good stewardship.

- It's a profitable company that has avoided, for the most part, the current FDA investigation into sales practices that has plagued its peers.

- It is spurring growth through acquisition of complementary products/companies (a spine products company whose name I don't remember offhand) and has acquired a global orthopedics distribution facility, with an existing sales force, in France. They have obtained a $40M credit facility and growth will be accretive.

- They have just been named to the Russell 3000.

- I expect future sales to be healthy because of the aging population.

My expectations are not based upon the heavy quantitative research that the Seeking Alpha audience tends to favor, but based upon my own personal investing experience which is more intuitive. Sometimes I lose, and sometimes I win mightily. I don't follow the crowds. Ever. I look for smaller growth companies in specific sectors that I understand. I never invested in financials because I do not understand them well enough, and they are not directly asset-based. A company, even if highly leveraged, must be asset based. I look for good cash flow. Obviously I could go on and on but I hope this answers your question in part, if not in whole.

Focusing on Medical Equipment

I think you're very foolish to back out of Exactech - I own it, I think it still has a lot of upside at $27/$28, and in this market particularly, one simply has to be a little bit more patient. This stock's price is going to have plateaus. This is one of them.

The Election's Impact on the Market

Excellent, Roger, I agree on all points. But further to my own circumstances, Obama is just going to redistribute the wealth. I'm voting for McCain. Period. He's a man with a long record of experience and, even if imperfect, at least he has learned personal lessons that only come from real experience. He also has endured the kind of spiritual/physical stress that informs the heart and mind. Sarah Plain and Tall (god I love it) works for me. A woman who is unafraid of hardship. Has Obama ever worked a day in his life?

Prime Foreclosures Now Greater Than Subprime

Is part of this so-called "rise" in prime delinquencies really due to the expanded resources made available to sub-prime borrowers? Putting the question another way, are "prime" borrowers eligible for the same protections and work-outs that have been created specifically for the sub-prime sector? Has the sub-prime rise softened at the expense of the prime sector?

FreightCar America: Coal Car Orders Will Pick Up Soon

An Obama victory in November? It would spell bad news not just for coal as you suggest, but bad news for anyone in small business. Obama is going to re-distribute the wealth. Sorry, but you brought it up first.