| Dendreon's Dip Creates a Great Opportunity VFC submits: Shares of Dendreon (DNDN) dropped to under thirty seven dollars on Monday morning, closing the day ten percent to the downside at $36.70. A dip in the DNDN share price had been expected by some during the time between the FDA's announcement of Provenge approval and the commercial launch of the product, but Monday's drop may also have been the result of an 'honest mistake' by CNBC who had reported that the supply of Provenge outweighed the current demand. CNBC corrected their mistake later in the day, stating that, in actuality, the demand for Provenge outweighed the supply. By then, however, the damage had been done and the DNDN stock embarked on a 10% downward spiral for the day.Speculation was rampant around the Internet and in the blogosphere that CNBC's 'mistake' was not quite an honest one, but one intended to help out some Wall Street buddies looking to build on their positions for lower prices. CNBC's already suspect track record of honest reporting - including Jim Cramer's questionable tactics - only add fuel to the fire. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Eli Lilly Retools Pipeline Eli Lilly's Chief Executive John Lechleiter is focusing more intently on developing new drugs for difficult-to-treat diseases, as patent protection for eight drugs will soon expire. online.wsj.com |
Bio-Reference Labs' fiscal 3Q profit jumps 24 pct (AP) Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc. said Thursday its fiscal third-quarter net income jumped 24 percent, as the clinical laboratory testing services provider increased the number of patients served and its revenue per patient. us.rd.yahoo.com |
Forest Settles Criminal Investigation Over Illegal Drug Marketing: Biotech's Latest Mishaps The Burrill Report submits: Forest Pharmaceuticals (FRX) has agreed to pay more than $300 million to settle charges stemming from a multiyear criminal investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over illegal marketing of drugs. The FDA, working in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice, said that Forest Pharmaceuticals entered into a plea agreement in which the company accepted responsibility for criminal actions including distribution of an unapproved new drug, distribution of a misbranded drug, and obstruction of an FDA inspection. The settlement included $164 million in criminal penalties. Charges against Forest were primarily for its marketing of Levothroid, an unapproved drug used for the treatment of hypothyroidism. Arena Pharmaceutical’s (ARNA) shares plunged nearly 40 percent after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee rejected its proposed weight loss drug lorcaserin. The reviewers expressed concern that potential risks of long-term use outweighed its benefit of modest weight loss. A briefing document issued two days earlier noted that the drug caused cancer in lab rats and succeeded by just “a slim margin” in meeting the FDA’s expectations for weight management. That news spurred a sell-off that drove Arena's shares down 38 percent as investors fretted over how the FDA's Endocrinologic & Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee would vote. The committee’s recommendation often guides the FDA’s final decision on whether or not to grant marketing approval. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Near-Term Uncertainty Makes SIGA Technologies a Low-Risk Buy Above Average Odds Investing submits: The investment analysis below is our ninth in our ongoing series of guest write-ups, and is brought to you by a friend of the blog, Ryan Morris. Ryan is managing partner at Meson Capital, a focused, value oriented hedge fund based out of New York/Toronto (we would note that Ryan is also a Contributor at Sum Zero, a member of both VIC and DDIC, as well as the newest "value voice" at the fantastic CGI Value). Meson was formed in February 2009 and has returned north of 400% net to partners since its inception (for what it's worth, we actually had to rub our eyes a bit the first time we saw it. Incredible no?). Anyhow, we found Ryan's write-up on current AAOI Partners Fund holding SIGA Technologies (SIGA) to be not only cogent and concise, but particularly timely given the company's recent developments and the minimal reaction to what was undoubtedly a game changing event for the company and its future.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |