For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 10, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses the Big Pharma & Biotech sector, including Alcon (ACL), Novartis (NVS), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Biogen Idec (BIIB) and Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR).

A synopsis of today’s Industry Outlook is presented below. The full article can be read at http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/27081/Big+Pharma+and+Biotech.

In the pharma space, we are positive on stocks like Alcon (ACL) and Novartis (NVS). We believe these companies will continue witnessing revenue growth based on continued international penetration, new product launches and market share expansion. Pipeline expansion through in-licensing deals and acquisitions should also add to growth.

Novartis should see strong vaccine sales this flu season. The company has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its swine flu vaccine, which

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The pharmaceutical industry has witnessed major changes in 2009. Performance has been affected by factors like sluggish prescription trends, intensifying generic competition and limited phase III catalysts. The next five years are expected to reflect a significant imbalance between new product introductions and patent losses. According to IMS Health (RX), this is the main reason why global pharmaceutical market growth will be restricted to the mid-single digits through 2013. Over the next five years, products that currently generate about $137 billion in sales are expected to face generic competition, including Lipitor, Plavix and Seretide. At the same time, new products are not expected to generate the same level of sales as the products losing patent protection have. With most of the big pharma companies already facing patent challenges for their blockbuster products or likely to face them going forward, the companies have been looking toward mergers ...

U.S. stocks broke a three-day slide and rose more than 1% Monday as a fresh round of strategic corporate deal-making spurred hopes that normalcy is returning to the financial system.  The multi-billion dollar merger announcements signaled a resurrection in merger activity and investors picked up stocks. 

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 124 points, or 1.3% and the broader S&P 500 index rallied 19 points, or 1.8% and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 40 points, or 1.9%.  The share gains were broad based with 28 of the 30 Dow components advancing.  On the New York Stock Exchange, four stocks rose for each one that declined in price.  Only 978 million shares exchanged hands on the NYSE.  Trading was light due to the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.     

In a spate of big corporate merger announcements, Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) said it will pay $6.5 billion for Solvay's pharmaceutical business, and

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Abbott Labs (ABT) is looking to launch its XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System in China in the fourth quarter of 2009. The company recently received approval from the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) for the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD). In our opinion, the launch of XIENCE V in China should bring in significant incremental revenues for the company’s Vascular Product division, which posted sales of $2.2 billion in 2008. China is the second-largest drug eluting stent market in the Asia-Pacific region after Japan. With the launch in China, XIENCE V will be available in every Asia-Pacific market except Japan, where the product is currently being reviewed by the regulatory authority. XIENCE V’s launch in Japan in early 2010 could potentially add another $500 million market opportunity. CAD is the leading cause of death in China -- according to the China ...

In an attempt to takeover the European junk bonds after the financial crisis, Nycomed, one of the private equity-owned Swiss drugmaker has made a 4.5 billion Euros bid to purchase Solvay SA’s drug operations. The Zurich based company said that it this bid and takeover is finalized it will help them to reach their annual sales figures of $6 million which is why they have gone ahead and made such a high bid to buy Solvay’s pharmaceutical unit and operations. However, the Belgian conglomerate Solvay SA’s has not yet responded to the bid and has informed that they might take a little time to think about it and would not rush through the deal....

Abbott Labs (ABT) presented results on XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System from the SPIRIT IV trial yesterday at the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference in San Francisco. Results showed that XIENCE V achieved superiority in the key safety and efficacy measures of target lesion failure (TLF) and target lesion revascularization (TLR) compared to Boston Scientific’s (BSX) Taxus Express2 Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System at one year. The study was conducted with about 3,690 patients. XIENCE V demonstrated a statistically significant 38% reduction in TLF compared to Taxus. Target lesion failure occurred in 4.2% of the XIENCE V patients compared to 6.8% of the patients in the Taxus arm. XIENCE V also demonstrated a statistically significant 46% reduction in TLR compared to Taxus. Target lesion revascularization occurred in 2.5% of the XIENCE V patients compared to 4.6% of the patients in the Taxus arm....

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 18, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Merck (MRK), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Gilead Sciences (GILD), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Abbott Labs (ABT).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Approval for Merck's Isentress

The European Union (EU) recently expanded the approval of Merck’s (MRK) Isentress (raltegravir) for the first line treatment of HIV patients. Earlier, it was approved for patients who had not responded to other treatment options. In the US, following a recent Food and Drug Administration

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• Merck (NYSE:MRK) announced its plans to abandon an experimental treatment for migraines and to review Phase III clinical data on another migraine drug

• Morgan Stanley's (NYSE:MS) CEO John Mack will be replaced before year-end by current co-president James Gorman

• Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) announced that it bought the 90% of Evalve that it does not already own for $410 million

• Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) cut its rating on Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) to "neutral"

• Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) lowered its rating on AIG (NYSE:AIG) to "underperform" asserting the firm currently is trading "significantly" above book value

• National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM) reported fiscal first quarter earnings of 13 cents a share, 6 cents above estimates on revenues of $314 million

Zacks Investment Research

Yesterday, AstraZeneca Plc (AZN) announced that Crestor, its cholesterol-lowering drug (statin) reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes, artery-clearing procedures and death in elderly patients. The results from the JUPITER study (Justification for the Use of statins in Primary prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin), showed that Crestor 20mg reduced major cardiovascular events. The administration of the drug to a sub-set of 5,695 patients aged 70 years or above reduced the risk of cardiovascular events by 39% compared to placebo. The study also revealed that Crestor reduced the risk of heart attack as well as stroke by 45% each in 17,802 patients (the total population of the study). The results were presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) meeting in Barcelona, Spain. Results from the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study were initially presented in November 2008. We feel that the analysis from the JUPITER ...

I recently highlighted a small biotech firm, ISIS Pharmaceuticals, as a potential “value” growth play. ISIS took a tumble after earnings despite being just a penny off of estimates. Despite slightly lower than expected earnings, the Company showed a strong cash position, moderate cash burn, and a likelihood that it would be able to at least make it through full trials for its most promising drug. I know that for some even this doesn’t count as value. Afterall, the Company is not free cash positive and any value ascribed to the Company is derived from future expectations of its drug pipeline of which there are none currently in distribution.

For those looking for more proven business models but still looking to take advantage of the coming shift towards genetic pharmaceuticals as opposed to small molecule pharmaceuticals, a look at ISIS’s partners may clue you into some

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