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Biotech investors interested in seeing more details about these companies and a full list of their related stories can do so by typing the stock ticker symbol into the Stock Quotes box on the right side of the page.Akorn, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRX) a specialty pharmaceutical company, reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009.Allos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTH), a biopharmaceutical company committed to the development and commercialization of innovative anti-cancer therapeutics announced management will present at two upcoming conferences: the Lazard Capital Markets 6th Annual Healthcare Conference and the Windhover Therapeutic Area Partnerships event, where the Company’s Pralatrexate for Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma project was named as one of Windhover’s Top 10 interesting oncology projects.ArQule, Inc. (Nasdaq:ARQL) announced it will present at the Lazard Capital Markets 6th Annual Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 5:10 p.m. eastern time.Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALXN) announced researchers are scheduled to present data relating to Soliris® (eculizumab) as a treatment for patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) during the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), to be held December 5 – 8, 2009 at the Ernst N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) announced its presentation at the Lazard Capital Markets 6th Annual Healthcare Conference will be webcast live, via the internet, on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 10:55a.m. EST.Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE:ELN) announced it will present at the Lazard Capital Markets 6th Annual Healthcare Conference, on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at; 9:55 a.m. Eastern Time and 2:55 p.m. GMT.Genoptix, Inc. (Nasdaq:GXDX), a specialized laboratory services provider, announced the Company's participation at the Lazard Capital ManaGement 6th Annual Healthcare Conference at The St. Regis Hotel in New York City on November 17-18, 2009.Impax Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPXL) announced the Company will present at the Credit Suisse 18th Annual Healthcare Conference on Friday, November 13th, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Standard time.ImmunoGen, Inc. (Nasdaq:IMGN), a biopharmaceutical company that develops targeted anticancer therapeutics, announced several ImmunoGen poster presentations will be made at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics to be held in Boston, MA, on November 15-19, 2009.The positive mix lift expected as farmers choose to upgrade to next-generation technologies allows Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) to reconfirm its commitment to double its 2007 gross profit in 2012, Monsanto President and CEO Hugh Grant will tell investors.Santarus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNTS), a specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced Gerald T. Proehl, president and chief executive officer, will make a presentation at the Lazard Capital Markets 6th Annual Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, November 17, 2009, at 10:55 a.m. Eastern time (7:55 a.m. Pacific time) at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City.S3 Investment Company, Inc. (OTC:SIVC) announced the company's wholly owned Redwood Capital subsidiary has received payment valued at over $500,000 in the form of cash and stock from the recent closing of a client equity offering.Sigma-Aldrich® (Nasdaq:SIAL) announced it has entered into an exclusive worldwide distribution agreement with Stemgent, Inc. to offer Stemgent's portfolio of lentivirus-based delivery systems for the generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq:TEVA) announced the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has issued a decision in its litigation over the Company's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to market its generic version of Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.'s Prevacid® (Lansoprazole) SoluTab.Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq:TEVA) announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted final approval for the Company's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to market its generic version of Tap Pharmaceutical's proton pump inhibitor Prevacid® (lansoprazole) Delayed-Release Capsules, 15 mg and 30 mg. Customers will begin receiving product on November 11, 2009.Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq:VRTX) announced holders of its 4.75% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes due 2013 have agreed to exchange approximately $109.0 million in aggregate principal amount of those notes and accrued interest for approximately 4.8 million shares of the Company’s common stock, which is approximately 140,000 shares more than the number of shares into which the notes were convertible under their original terms.
Any long term holder of Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) can’t be happy with the stock price over the past year. In fact, shares have gone from the mid 30’s in the summer of 2008, to around $7 a share. Since announcing a deal with pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson, in which J&J agreed to pay one billion dollars for an 18.4% stake in Elan, the share price has had little upside. Elan shares closed at $7.24 on Wednesday, this was only a little more than 3% higher since announcing the deal.
This after Elan shares hit an intra-day high in the $8.50 range the day the deal was announced on July 2nd. Why such lack of movement for Elan after such a big deal was announced? Shareholders have been voicing their concern over the stock price movement in the past week, or lack there of, however, Elan could be well positioned for a bright future and a large move up in their price per share.
Yahoo! FinanceQuote for ELN/
One of the bigger issues facing Elan is its lack of credibility on Wall Street. Their reputation was tarnished after current CEO Kelly Martin promised the world to investors last year about their current Alzheimer’s drug, bapineuzumab. But, when Phase II data was released in 2008, the results were mediocre and the stock price collapsed. Many shareholders were calling for his ouster, and some still are, despite his efforts to begin looking for a buyer for part or all of the company in January of this year. After months of searching for a suitor and with help from Citigroup, who was hired by Elan to review their business, they found a buyer for part of the company in Johnson and Johnson. The deal gives Johnson and Johnson an 18.3% stake in Elan, it will spend one billion dollars 107.3 million newly issued American Depository Receipts at $9.32 each. More importantly for Elan, Johnson and Johnson will spend up $500 million right off the bat for the development of Elan’s blockbuster Alzheimer’s drug, bapineuzumab. Also, J&J will get Elan's 50 percent stake in its Alzheimer's immunotherapy research partnership with Wyeth, and set up a newly formed company, that will be 49.9 percent owned by Elan. Johnson & Johnson will gain all rights to any drugs approved while Elan will get 49.9 percent of the profits, plus royalty payments on sales.Perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle is that Elan will now be able to significantly reduce its heavy debt load. In fact, Elan now believes it can turn a profit in 2010. The main goal of their strategic review that began in January, was to find a partner who could reduce their balance sheet risk and eliminate a large portion if not all of their debt. Martin has succeeded in finding perhaps the best pharmaceutical company, if not one of the best, in the world to partner with. Johnson and Johnson has a team of unbelievable researchers, marketers, and scientists. However, what investors have been concerned with, is what Martin will do with the money from Johnsons and Johnson. Rather than pour boat loads into further R&D, it is the debt load that investors would like to see get first priority. Elimination of a millions of dollars in debt is what Martin says is a priority and it remains to be seen if this in fact will be done. Moody’s Investor Services has placed Elan under review for a possible upgrade. Once the deal was announced with Johnsons and Johnson, Moody’s immediately released a statement saying that:"The transaction is expected to have a very favorable impact on Elan's capital structure and liquidity profile, prompting the rating review for possible upgrade," stated Moody's Senior Vice President Michael Levesque. Moody's rating review will focus on Elan's uses of the equity proceeds, and the impact of the collaboration on Elan's earnings and cash flow over the next several years. The rating review will consider the progress of the Alzheimer's program and the sales trends of Tysabri—factors which will also influence Elan's cash flow in the coming years.Should Elan get a Moody’s upgrade in the coming days, have some good news at the International Alzheimer’s Conference from July 11th – 16th, and have decent news on the earnings front when they report on July 21st, the stock could be in for a nice move up. Elan is set to showcase their research in Alzheimer’s disease with a focus on their blockbuster drug bapineuzumab, which they currently have completed Phase III enrollment for. With the help of Wyeth, bapineuzumab looks promising, with Phase III probably due out in the second half of 2010. However, since the debacle last summer, recent Phase II reports from the companies look solid, and investors are anxious for updates on how Phase III trials are proceeding. Finally, Elan also has a strong partnership with Biogen Idec, they both co-market the multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri which has recently been making headlines. Tysabri is a huge money maker for both companies, however, recent reports of a brain infection known as: progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML, in patients who have been taking Tysabri for an extended amount of time have pressured shares of both companies. Just last week, Biogen announced the tenth case of PML, and have been giving updates every Friday on new cases of the brain infection. The last update on July 3rd stated that there were no new cases. Even with ten cases, the incidence of PML in patients taking Tysabri for an extended period of time is low, much lower than the 1 in 1000 that the FDA required be stated on the Tysabri label when they allowed it to be reintroduced in 2006. In fact, according to Biogen researchers and scientists, the incidence is more along the lines of 1 in 4000. Investors still fear that such occurrences will cause doctors to remove patients from the drug after a shorter amount of time on it, thus cutting into Biogen and Elan’s profits. However, when Biogen stops releasing their reports of PML cases on July 24th, we will have a better update on the safety of the drug. Biogen has also stated that they are working on a PML related test that should be ready by year’s end. This test will allow for early detection of the possibility of developing PML by finding a virus in the patient’s body that could lead to the brain infection. Biogen is reporting earnings on July 16th, and will give an update on the increase in revenue from Tysabri, which could have a positive impact on Elan shares as well.With so many positives for Elan, it is almost impossible to justify a $7 share price. Such a price barely factors in the huge deal with Johnsons and Johnson which could and should eliminate a huge part of Elan’s debt, something investors and Wall Street love. With the potential for upgrades, positive news from the Alzheimer’s conference, and some decent earnings news, Elan shares could be in for a solid ride up in the short term. Longer term, with the help of Johnson & Johnson, bapineuzumab could have unbelievable potential. Also, Tysabri could continue to generate millions more in revenue if more and more patients continue to use it, despite the possible small percentage of patients that have acquired PML. Finally, with so many interested parties in Elan throughout the strategic review, the long term possibility of an outright takeover is more and more likely. Position: Long Elan
Analysts speculated that those two companies, which have similar specialties to Medarex, could be the next to be acquired.
The $2.4 billion deal for antibody technology specialist Medarex, announced late on Wednesday, marked the latest in a string of windfalls for biotech investors this year.
The industry has also seen a wave of out-sized share price gains in 2009 on the back of positive clinical data and deals.
Regeneron was up 9 percent at $19.60 in afternoon trading, while Seattle Genetics was 6.9 percent higher at $9.97.
Like Medarex, both of those companies specialize in monoclonal antibodies. Shares of ImmunoGen (Nasdaq:IMGN) another monoclonal antibody specialist, were up 3.9 percent.
"In the wake of the Medarex acquisition, I see Regeneron as one of the last remaining companies with a true (monoclonal antibody) platform that is still stand alone," ThinkEquity analyst Jason Kolbert said.
Just as Medarex had struck partnership deals, Kolbert said Regeneron has ties to large companies such as Bayer and Sanofi-Aventis.
"They have a great balance sheet, great partnerships with pharma giants," Kolbert said. "It's got all of the same ingredients that a Medarex has."
Regeneron and Seattle Genetics are the most likely next candidates to be acquired, said Mark Monane, an analyst at Needham & Co.
Monane said other characteristics that define likely biotech takeout targets included companies with hematology and oncology products, medicines in late-stage development and existing partnerships with other companies.
Monane said that other companies that could be put in play, although somewhat less likely, include Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ALXN), Allos Therapeutics (Nasdaq:ALTH), AMAG Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:AMAG), ArQule (Nasdaq:ARQL), Celldex Therapeutics (Nasdaq:CLDX), Dendreon (Nasdaq:DNDN) and Poniard Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:PARD).
Dendreon shares rose 6.6 percent to $24.57 after a source told Reuters the biotech company hired JPMorgan Chase as an adviser to help it find an international licensing partner for its prostate cancer vaccine Provenge.
Many other large drugmakers are scrambling to buy promising biotechnology companies to fill their late-stage pipelines as they confront generic competition to big-selling products.
Indeed, Bristol-Myers CEO James Cornelius said the company remains financially able to pursue more deals even with the Medarex deal.
Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) completed its $930 million purchase of Cougar Biotechnology Inc, just days after agreeing to pay $1 billion for an 18 percent stake in Irish drugmaker Elan Corp (NYSE:ELN) and to acquire a major stake in Elan's portfolio of experimental treatments for Alzheimer's disease.
Several biotech companies have seen their shares soar this year after surprising investors with positive clinical data or regulatory approvals.
Just this week, Human Genome Sciences (Nasdaq:HGSI) shares jumped more than 200 percent after the company announced positive data for its experimental lupus drug.
Dendreon and MAP Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:MAPP) are among the other companies with positive surprises this year.
(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf and Bill Berkrot; Editing by Ted Kerr and Richard Chang)
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Denmark-based Genmab received some good news with the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval?for Arzerra (ofatumumab), a monoclonal antibody for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a slowly progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow.?[More...]
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Denmark-based Genmab received some good news with the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval for Arzerra (ofatumumab), a monoclonal antibody for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a slowly progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow.
Arzerra is approved for cancer patients who are no longer responding to the current available treatment [...]
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