Eli Lilly Earns Major Win As Appeals Court Upholds Evista Ban (LLY, TEVA)
According to Reuters, Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) won a major battle against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA), which had been petitioning for a generic version of Lilly’s drug, Evista. The court upheld the patent on Evista, which is used to treat Osteoporosis.
-Michael B. Sauter
Inhibitex Completes Trial For Hep C Drug
Inhibitex Inc. (NASDAQ: INHX) was up $0.16 (11.27%) this morning to $1.58 on news that the company had completed a Phase1a, single ascending dose trial of its nucleotide polymerase inhibitor, INX-189. The drug is currently being developed for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. Tests of the drug have, at this point, been positive with no serious side effects.
Inhibitex Inc. is a biopharma company that specializes in the development of drugs used to prevent infective diseases, primarily shingles and hepatitis C.
-Michael B. Sauter
Intendis Enters Deal With Kythera For Fat-Reduction Drug
Intendis, Bayer Healthcare’s dermatology sector, has signed a deal with Los Angeles-based biopharma company Kythera Biopharmaceuticals in which the company receives rights to Kythera’s lead product candidate, ATX-101, in areas outside of the United States and Canada. Kythera, in return, will receive $43 million upfront and up to $330 million beyond their initial payment. ATX-101 is used to destroy fat cells in localized areas beneath the chin while leaving healthy tissue. In addition to this, as is covered under the deal with Intendis, Kythera is looking to find other areas in which the drug can be used to destroy fat cells.
Intendis CEO Marc Lafeuille commented on the deal, “”As a first-in-class candidate being studied for minimally-invasive fat reduction, we see ATX-101 as a strong growth opportunity and an excellent entry point into the aesthetic dermatology business. The agreement with Kythera will allow us to fully leverage both our long-standing expertise in pharmaceutical development, as well as our strong foothold with the dermatologist.”
-Michael B. Sauter
Pluristem Placental Cells Found Effective For Several Treatments
Pluristem Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSTI) is up 12.87% this morning after it announced that its PLX therapeutic stem cell line, derived from the material of a human placenta, would be the only type of cell selected for a study designed to prevent inflammatory heart disease, also called diastolic heart failure.
Shares of PSTI is up $0.13 to $1.14 on 172 thousand shares of volume, more than three times the average daily volume of 48,248 shares. the stock is mid-way through its 52-week range of $0.82 to $1.52.
-Michael B. Sauter
AVEO Discovers Potential Cancer Breakthrough
AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AVEO) was up $0.75 (9.14%) this morning to $8.96 following reports that by introducing an experimental drug during chemotherapy the company had succeeded to wipe out brain cancer cells in mice. This news provides hope for a new treatment for the disease in humans, and testing in humans has already begun.
AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a biopharma company that specializes in cancer therapeutics. Up until 2005 the company was known as GenPath Pharmaceuticals.
-Michael B. Sauter
Sanofi-Aventis Forcibly Rejected In Genzyme Bid
For the past several months, rumors and reports have flown about French pharmaceutical behemoth Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) devoting heavy resources to acquiring American research company Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ). The firms have gone back and forth on offers since early last month. Today, the Genzyme rejected Sanofi’s latest effort. Genzyme CEO explained his company’s actions, decrying an “unrealistic starting package” and said their offer “dramatically undervalues our company.”
Shares of GENZ are up 3.77 today on much higher than average volume. SNY is up .24% on average volume.
-Michael B. Sauter
Roche Cancer Drug Does Not Receive FDA Approval
Swiss drugmaker Roche took a blow this past Friday after the U.S. FDA denied the company’s request for accelerated approval regarding trastuzumab-DM1, or T-DM1. The drug, according to Reuters, “comprises ImmunoGen’s DM1 cancer-cell-killing agent linked to the HER2-targeting antibody trastuzumab, or Herceptin,” as a means of combating cancer. The FDA’s decision will now setback the drug, which Roche hoped to gain approval for this year, to a 2012 resubmission date.
T-DM1 was found to reduce the size of tumors in one third of the women with advanced breast cancer tested during drug trials. In reaction to news of the the FDA’s refuse-to-file letter, Vontobel analyst Andrew Weiss stated, “The impact to (Roche) earnings is marginal. However, the news is disappointing from a sentiment point of view.”
-Michael B. Sauter
GSK Gets Boost As Shingles Vaccine Enters Late Stage. AGEN Goes Along For Ride. (GSK, AGEN)
GlaxoSmithKline’s (NYSE: GSK) new shingles recently entered phase III trials, and is expected to breeze through these as well. Meanwhile, Antigenics Inc. (NYSE: AGEN) the company responsible for the vaccine’s adjuvant, also experienced a major jump yesterday. Shares of GSK are up .56% today to $37.63. Shares of AGEN are down 3.68% to $0.82, but this should be seen as more of a minor correction after gaining nearly 12% yesterday.
AGEN has traded 508 thousand shares today so far, with an average volume of 557 thousand.
-Michael B. Sauter
DARA Biopharma Faces Delisting (DARA)
DARA Biosciences, inc. (NASDAQ: DARA) is on the chopping block after being notified by the SEC that the company didn’t meet the minimum equity requirement to continue to be publicly traded on the NASDAQ. The market’s minimum requirement is $2.5 million, and, according to the pharma company’s 10-Q report, it no longer meets that standard. If it cannnot prove that it has returned to this equity level by august 27th, DARA will officially be delisted from the market. According to Yahoo! Finance, the company plans a repeal, and hopes to work out an alternative to its removal from public trading.
-Michael B. Sauter
Genzyme Faces Merger Bid From Sanofi
Sanofi-Aventis SA (NYSE: SNY) has raised it’s final offer for the purchase of Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) to $70 a share, up one dollar from their initial offer of $69. The price is certainly not one to thrill those at Genzyme, however insiders report that Sanofi holds concerns over manufacturing setbacks at the company.
“Sanofi doesn’t want to overpay and is being very reasonable,” reported Jerome Feronis from Banque Martin Maurel in Marseille, who helps manage Sanofi shares. “There are real issues tied to Genzyme. They want to pay a fair price. It’s good management.”
As activist directors seek to drive up the price, however, Sanofi may end up having to pay as much as $80 a share. Alternately, Genzyme does not currently have any other offers from American companies, and may eventually settle for Sanofi’s lower price.
-Michael B. Sauter
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