hpski

Which Pfizer / Wyeth Sites Will Shut Down?

And then the snake pit, AKA Pfizer sales & marketing, took over and convinced ++ cluless docs to Rx it for their elderly patients, sending them to the ER to spend our tax dollars ruling out strokes, AMI's, etc. settling on iatragenic Rabdomyolosis.


On Sep 29 11:20 AM Trane250 wrote:

> The bottom line is what motivates Pfizer. To hell with anything else.
>
>
> "After several years of eliminating jobs that once totaled 3,600
> at that company's [Warner-Lambert's] Ann Arbor, Mich., facility,
> Pfizer announced its closing in January 2007. Among those put out
> of work was Bob Sliskovic, a scientist credited with developing Lipitor."

Intuitive Surgical: 'Accident Prone' for Profits

Questions: S&P still has them at a "Hold", 12 month target price $205. How could they be that disconnected with ISRG's potential? Also, I wonder why their B.O.D's haven't issued a stock split? Under a certain price, aren't they a take over target?

Thanks in advance!

Extreme FDA Trades: 20 Stocks Under 5 Bucks

Glad you mentioned Genta & CTIC. Both have had problems with FDA in the past. Genisense works in a subset of CLL patients - there was not a single leukemia doc sitting on the ODAC that gave it a thumbs down, and MM is a very difficult challenge, so delayed progression in a subset of patients with low LDH is progress . CTIC would like Pixantrone to be thought of as not adding to cumulative doxorubicin mediated cardiac muscle damage, but that data is probably not going to be significant. If ODAC blows off Genisense again, Genta is toast. I have to give Genta's Ray Warrell major league credit for staying with this and not abandoning ship - he could have gone back to the clinical setting at MSKCC or facsimile.

Housing: Semi-Panic in Orange County?

When I lived in O.C. 25 years ago, most people referred to Garden Grove as "Garbage Grove". Since then did the city council upgrade building codes & zoning? Probably not. I wouldn't have given more than $200,000 for the best house there.

Will the Democrats' Massive Borrowing and Spending Binge Kill the U.S. Economy?

Quite simply, Bush and his enablers, who stole the 2000 election, saw it as a "mandate" to loot the federal gov't with closed bid crony capitalism contracts, mostly to prosecute a war of choice that he and alter ego Cheney lied the U.S. into. The Dems rolled over for him like lemmings going over a cliff, so they're not excused. At least Obama voted against it. Wolfie testified b-4 congress that Iraqi oil would pay for most of the war's expenses - yeah right. Then there were the ridiculous tax cuts adding fuel to the nat'l debt fire. Remember that Bush inherited a SURPLUS when he took possession of his stolen property. Bottom line, there needs to be and will be tax increases. The Europeans pay more taxes than us, and historically U.S. citizens have paid higher taxes. Don't let "conservatives" who love their corporate welfare checks and closed bids confuse the issue by saying it will "stall" the economy. They're self absorbed liars.

Top Biotech Picks for ASCO 2009 (Part II)

This is a follow up to my previous post. Genmab will indeed be represented at ASCO. See below:

OFATUMUMAB AND R1507 DATA TO BE PRESENTED AT ASCO

Copenhagen, Denmark; May 11, 2009 – Genmab A/S (OMX: GEN) announced today that data from the ofatumumab and R1507 development programs will be presented at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, which will be held May 29-June 2 in Orlando, Florida.



Ofatumumab – Poster session, May 30 from 8AM to 12PM EDT

Abstract # 7044 Ofatumumab, a novel CD20 mAb, is active regardless of prior rituximab exposure in patients with fludarabine- and alemtuzumab-refractory or bulky fludarabine-refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).



Ofatumumab – Poster session, May 30 from 8AM to 12PM EDT

Abstract # 7043 Clinical improvement with a novel CD20 mAb, ofatumumab, in fludarabine-refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) also refractory to alemtuzumab or with bulky lymphadenopathy.



R1507 – Oral presentation, June 1 at 3PM EDT

Abstract # 10503 A SARC global collaborative Phase II trial of R1507, a recombinant human monoclonal antibody to the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF1R) in patients with recurrent or refractory sarcomas.



R1507 – Poster session, May 30, 2PM to 6PM EDT

Abstract # 8095 Expression levels of total IGF-1R and sensitivity of NSCLC cells in vitro to an anti-IGF-1R antibody (R1507)



The full abstracts will be available at asco.org on May 14, 2009.

Top Biotech Picks for ASCO 2009 (Part II)

This is not an ASCO issue, however ASCO is overshadowing the development reprinted below. I fully expect ODAC to recommend approval. Furthermore, I am sure that Arzerra was the main reason Biogen Idec puT themselves up for sale last year, and the main reason there were no takers at their asking price.

FDA Advisory Committee to Review Arzerra(TM) (Ofatumumab)
11:05a ET May 4, 2009 (GlobeNewswire)

Genmab A/S (OMX:GEN) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) will hold a meeting on May 29, 2009 to review the Arzerra(TM) (ofatumumab) Biologics License Application (BLA) for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have received prior therapy.

Genmab and GlaxoSmithKline submitted the BLA in January 2009 and announced that the FDA accepted it for review in April 2009. The FDA has granted ofatumumab priority review status.

Investing in Wind Energy: When Will Growth Peak?

How does all this square with Germany's pioneering program of home & business based solar panel electrical generation, where "excess" power is mandated to be purchased by utility companies? Why can't we parrot this type of program? I used to live near the wind farms at the eastern end of the Banning Pass in CA - they're at least 25 years old and still producing - I'm aware of RFK Jr's assertion that there's a huge opportunity for wind generated power in certain sections of the U.S. It appears to me that wind & solar, when opportunistically, and in some cases, forcibly applied, can cut our fossil fuel consumption big-time. I will read Jeff's "Manhattan Project" book - I was babbling about tackling our energy needs / global warming problem vis-a-vis a "Manhattan Project" or JFK's "put a man on the moon in 10 years" commitment years ago. Let's hope RFK Jr. takes the helm of the EPA! (aka poking war criminal & ecological terrorist Cheney in the eye with a pointed stick) Forti et fideli nihil difficile!

Chuck Schumer: The New Chairman of the Board

It appears that you are using your Ockham "pulpit" to attack someone who's politics you don't like. Your charge that Schumer et. al. can "suspend" a bank's B.O.D's power is strident at best, a misrepresentation at worst. Since you are a an investment "pro", you know that corporation's boards declare dividends based upon predetermined levels of profitability. Please let us know if there are any corporations writing off huge losses that manage to distribute dividends. When they get healthy again, perhaps dividends will be forthcoming. And, I agree with "User 232593" - the lying thieving CEO's and their enablers should be perp-walked out of the industry - let 'em sell used cars...

For Bargain-Hunting in a Bear Market, Look at India

Good synopsis! What is happening in the Indian economy & political landscape to justify your suggestion to bottom feed there?

Solar Energy: Help Is on the Way

AKNS's insider trading revealed something new to me - several insiders' acquisition costs are listed as "0". How does this work? I thought options, qualified or not, had a strike price. Aside from that, there was some selling in the 3rd QTR, but not, IMO, any significant % of their holdings. Thanks in advance to anyone fielding my question.

Solar Wafer Prices On the Rise Again?

Interesting article; what's your take on WFR? I don't own it, but is it just market malaise that accounts for the street's "YAWN" reaction to this announcement?

MEMC and Tainergy Announce $3 Billion+ Solar Wafer Supply Contract
8:02a ET July 10, 2008 (PR NewsWire)

MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR) and Tainergy Tech Co., Ltd. of Taiwan announced today that they have executed a definitive agreement for MEMC to supply solar wafers to Tainergy.

Dendreon's Provenge: Government Agencies Play Hide and Seek With Facts

Let's pretend for awhile that there's no emotional component to the Provenge issue. FDA's approval of what I believe is a 'breakthrough" advance in the treatment of mCRC, Erbitux, was based upon the drug given as monotherapy + BSC (best supportive care) to EGFR-expressing patients who had failed prior Irinotecan & Oxaliplatin based therapy, vs BSC alone. Overall survival was increased by 34%. Median overall survival in months was 6.14 in the Erbitux group vs. 4.57 months in the BSC group. Erbitux combined with Irinotecan resulted in a median time to disease progression of 4.1 months vs. 1.5 months using Erbitux alone. The objective lesson here is that a lot of hard work and science goes into developing new technologies that provide an incremental benefit. Approval gets the drug on the street, giving doctors and their patients an additional tool, and some very important "intangibles", e.g. greater "control" over their battle against the disease, and hope. Now Erbitux is being evaluated in head & neck, as well as NSCL cancer. Certainly it was easier to recruit study sites as well as patients to participate, since the drug was already approved. There are myriad other examples/precedents of oncology associated meds being approved on bare threads of data. I submit that a Federal Court would not allow the case cited above to proceed had, in addition to the COI issues, FDA's ruling on Provenge been even semi-consistent with previous (incremental) data driven decisions. There is definitely something hiding under a rock at FDA - the same FDA that allows drugs indicated for a specific condition, e.g. ERD due to neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease, to be marketed on TV as a recreational drug. The same FDA that allows Prilosec to go "OTC" when self treatment for occasional GERD with h2 antgonists like Zantac or generic Pepsid working as well, while NOT inhibiting protein absorption or causing increased gastrin dumping, which long term, increases colon cancer risk, which brings me right back Erbitux.....

Inhaled Insulin: One Giant Leap for MannKind

What does your research tell you about the road blocks/speed bumps for inhaled insulin? What do the endos, pulmonologists, etc. think?

Thanks in advance

Can We Bury the Middle Class Income Myths?

Mark, I'm begging you to stop flogging a dead horse, or more likely "something else" your very attached to that has about as much life left in it. Aside from omitting energy & food, somehow the data you posted left out the tremendous growth of two income households. Your agenda is obvious, but the "blue collar middle class" types who blithely followed Rove's lies into the voting booth, don't read this stuff. Tell it to the choir, like, maybe Doug Feith?