| Humana's Profit Rises Humana's earnings rose 26% on the reversal of prior reserves for medical claims and on higher premiums and enrollment at its government segment. online.wsj.com |
ALS Research: CVS/pharmacy Campaign - Video Two young fathers from Overland Park, Kansas and Pine Mountain Valley, Georgia are ALS patients serving as honorary co-chairs of campaign feedproxy.google.com |
Affymax Sell-Off: Did Investors Overreact? Joseph Krueger submits: On June 21, Affymax (AFFY) and their partner Takeda Pharmaceutricals (TKPHF.PK) announced phase 3 trial results for their investigational drug, Hematide (peginesatide), a novel peptide-based, long acting erythropoietin agonist. The trial examined the efficacy of hematide for the treatment of anemia in chronic renal failure, and met all of its primary efficacy and safety endpoints to demonstrate equivalency to recombinant erythropoietin (epoetin and darbepoetin). Normally, one would expect this to be interpreted as good news, but in the case of AFFY, it was interpreted as bad news due to the inclusion of this statement in the headline: “With Some Differences Noted in Secondary Analyses”.Spooked investors quickly sold off AFFY stock giving it a 60% haircut from its prior trading of almost $22.50 to about $8.50 by market open. This type of market behavior is understandable, given that Hematide is Affymax’s sole clinical asset, and the failure of Hematide would leave Affymax without any clinical pipeline. Most traders expected a bounce from there as investors stop panicking and absorbed the significance of the news.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Shell / Cosan's Big Bet on Biofuels The Burrill Report submits: By Marie DaghlianA $12-billion joint venture between Shell (RDS.A) and Brazilian ethanol producer Cosan (CZZ) moved closer to reality as the two companies signed binding agreements on the a deal first proposed in February. If completed, the deal will create the third largest ethanol producer in the world with 4,500 retail stations and annual production of 440 million gallons. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Gene-Altered Fish Closer to Approval The U.S. has moved closer to approving a lab-tweaked salmon that grows twice as fast as farmed fish and would become the first genetically modified animal to appear on American dinner plates. online.wsj.com |