| 4 Stocks to Watch at ASCO The Inflection Point submits: The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will hold its 46th annual meeting on June 4th-8th, 2010, in Chicago. Over 30,000 oncologists, researchers and specialists are expected to attend this year’s event to discuss the latest advances and breakthroughs in the ongoing fight against cancer. The theme of this year’s meeting is “Advancing Quality Through Innovation.” As such, the clinical data, new studies and technological developments presented over this five day affair are of keen interest to both the medical and investment community alike. To be sure, some of the findings that emerge from this year’s ASCO have the potential to become next year’s new blockbuster drugs. With this in mind, here are a few of the companies whose abstracts have caught our eye. ArQule, Inc. (ARQL)Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
AstraZeneca Hopeful for Positive FDA Call on Blood-Thinner but Doubts Linger EP Vantage submits:An FDA advisory committee’s strong vote in favor of AstraZeneca’s (AZN) blood-thinner Brilinta was tempered by long-held concerns over the failure of the drug’s pivotal trial to show a survival benefit in the US population when compared to Plavix (Event - Brilinta has questions to answer, July 21, 2010). With adcom members raising concerns over this unexplained inconsistency in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients, there remains the possibility that the FDA will order another trial to sort out the discrepancy.The 7-1 vote in favor of Brilinta was emphatic, and while the FDA does not always follow the advice of its adcoms, many observers believe there is a good chance the agency will grant approval. Yet the 18,624-patient Plato study found an unexplained trend toward increased cardiovascular events and death in its 1,413-subject US subgroup, and that concern has hung over the candidate ever since (Brilinta data soothes some patent cliff woes for Astra, September 1, 2009). This divergence prompted one panel member to vote no because of lack of assurances of a follow-up study, and others to raise questions about how patterns of care in acute coronary syndrome, including the use of aspirin, might have affected the outcome.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Wisconsin Presses on Free Birth Control Wisconsin is seeking to expand a program that provides free birth-control pills, vasectomies and other forms of contraception to low-income people, after the federal health overhaul cleared the way to make it permanent. online.wsj.com |
Will Access Pharma Keep Trending Higher? M.E. Garza submits: The stock for Access Pharmaceuticals (ACCP.OB) has been acting very bullishly. During the past two weeks the company's press releases have caught our attention and the stock has been pushing higher. Our advice for investors, just as it was back in September, is to put the stock on their watch lists. While candle stick analysis shows some uncertainty in the market direction at the end of Columbus Day trading, shares of ACCP broke through resistance on Friday and closed up at $2.63+0.13 (5.20%) with the next 2 levels of minor resistance showing at $2.69 and $2.75 respectively. In addition to everything else that is shaping up for them, Greg Zeng of Zacks recently reconfirmed his $8.00 price target for ACCP and stated his belief that "third quarter financials are expected to be better than our estimates."Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
School, Homework, Pump Iron Strength training, once limited to high school football teams, has become a standard workout feature in other youth sports—and is fast catching hold among kids who don't play organized sports at all. online.wsj.com |