Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced a private placement equity offering of 8.1 million shares of common stock to several qualified institutional investors. The company will receive $2.4325 per share, or approximately $19.1 million in net proceeds.

Alexza Pharmaceuticals also issued 7.3 million warrants as part of the deal. The warrants entitle the holder to purchase 0.9 shares of common stock at $2.77 per share. The warrants expire in seven years.

Alexza Pharmaceuticals is developing a proprietary drug delivery technology called the Staccato® system. This technology vaporizes unformulated pharmaceutical drugs into an aerosol form that allows rapid systemic delivery through lung inhalation.

Alexza Pharmaceuticals has completed Phase 3 trials for using this technology to deliver Loxapine for use in treating schizophrenic or bipolar disorder patients. The company plans a new drug application submission in 2010.

Staccato® is also being tested for use in other areas, including the treatment

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 11, 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: Lloyds Banking Group plc (LYG), CBS Corporation (CBS), Somaxon Pharmaceuticals (SOMX), Alexza Pharmaceuticals (ALXA) and NeurogesX, Inc. (NGSX).

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Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:

Lloyds Still Expects a Loss

Today in its first quarter trading update, Lloyds Banking Group plc (LYG, or Lloyds) announced that it still expects to post a loss for full-year 2009 (excluding an accounting gain from negative goodwill) on the back of

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Management at Alexza Pharmaceuticals (ALXA) is focused on completing the necessary non-pivotal safety and supportive work, as well as the chemical and manufacturing scale-up on AZ-004 in preparation of the planned NDA filing in early 2010.The only clinical trial program that will run in 2009 is the recently initiated phase IIb program on AZ-104. No clinical work is being done on AZ-007 or AZ-001 at this point. Besides the preparation that is being done for the AZ-004 new drug application (NDA), management will also focus on partnering opportunities for AZ-004 and AZ-001.The company exited 2008 with $23.1 million in cash and investments. Symphony Allegros held another $17.6 million in cash. Funding operations doesn't seem to be an issue for now. Alexza probably has enough cash to fund its development programs into the second quarter of 2010.We are pleased that Alexza has retained ...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALXA) Allergan Inc (AGN) Anesiva Inc (ANSV) Becton Dickinson and Co (BDX) Biodel Inc (BIOD) Cadence Pharmaceuticals Inc (CADX) Caliper Life Sciences Inc (CALP) Cerner Corp (CERN) Corcept Therapeutics Inc (CORT) Datalink Corp (DTLK) DivX Inc (DIVX) Gold Fields Ltd (GFI) HearUSA Inc (EAR) Hecla Mining Co (HL) HMS Holdings Corp (HMSY) Local.com Corp (LOCM) NaviSite Inc (NAVI) Skilled Healthcare Group Inc (SKH) View the entire Zacks #1 Rank List.

Zacks Investment Research

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALXA) Anesiva Inc (ANSV) Barloworld Ltd (BRRAY) Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc (BRLI) Carmike Cinemas Inc (CKEC) Convergys Corp (CVG) Corus Entertainment Inc (CJR) Gander Mountain Co (GMTN) Hana Biosciences Inc (HNAB) Hellenic Telecom Organization SA (OTE) IntelGenx Technologies Corp (IGXT) Luby's Inc (LUB) NMT Medical Inc (NMTI) Prudential Public Limited Co (PUK) Skyworks Solutions Inc (SWKS) Techne Corp (TECH) Tecumseh Products Co (TECUA) Unilever Plc (UL) View the entire Zacks #1 Rank List.

Zacks Investment Research

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALXA) Anesiva Inc (ANSV) Ashland Inc (ASH) Caliper Life Sciences Inc (CALP) Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (CCLAY) Grand Canyon Education Inc (LOPE) Majesco Entertainment Co (COOL) NaviSite Inc (NAVI) New Jersey Resources Corp (NJR) Owens & Minor Inc (OMI) Papa John's Int'l Inc (PZZA) Pearson Plc (PSO) Provident Energy Trust (PVX) Radvision Ltd (RVSN) Silgan Holdings Inc (SLGN) TAM SA (TAM) Tecumseh Products Co (TECUA) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (TLK) Ziopharm Oncology Inc (ZIOP)

View the entire Zacks #1 Rank List.

Zacks Investment Research

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALXA) American River Bankshares (AMRB) Anesiva Inc (ANSV) Aon Corp (AOC) Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc (ARNA) Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc (ARIA) Array BioPharma Inc (ARRY) athenahealth Inc (ATHN) Barloworld Ltd (BRRAY) Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc (BRLI) British Airways plc (BAIRY) CARBO Ceramics Inc (CRR) Cell Therapeutics Inc (CTIC) Chemed Corp (CHE) Corinthian Colleges Inc (COCO) Danaos Corp (DAC) Dialysis Corporation of America (DCAI) Diamond Mgt & Technology Consultants In (DTPI) Discovery Communications Inc (DISCB) DXP Enterprises Inc (DXPE) EarthLink Inc (ELNK) eDiets.com Inc (DIET) Elbit Systems Ltd (ESLT) Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) Enterprise GP Holdings LP (EPE) ev3 Inc (EVVV) FiberTower Corp (FTWR) Flanders Corp (FLDR) GTx Inc ...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Ajinomoto Co Inc (AJINY) Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALXA) Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALXN) Amerisafe Inc (AMSF) APAC Customer Services Inc (APAC) Atmos Energy Corp (ATO) Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc (BRLI) Command Security Corp (MOC) Conmed Healthcare Management Inc (CMHM) Conseco Inc (CNO) Discovery Communications Inc (DISCB) Flanders Corp (FLDR) Gerdau SA (GGB) I-Many Inc (IMNY) Investors Bancorp Inc (ISBC) Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc (JTX) James Hardie Industries NV (JHX) Kaman Corp (KAMN) Labopharm Inc (DDSS) Mag Silver Corp (MVG) Metabasis Therapeutics Inc (MBRX) National Beverage Corp (FIZZ) NCI Inc (NCIT) Neogen Corp (NEOG) NeuroMetrix Inc (NURO) Nova Biosource Fuels Inc (NBF) Palatin Technologies Inc (PTN) Pegasystems Inc (PEGA) ...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALXA) Anesiva Inc (ANSV) Atmos Energy Corp (ATO) Avigen Inc (AVGN) Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc (BRLI) Blount International Inc (BLT) Blount International Inc (BAIRY) Cerus Corp (CERS) Command Security Corp (MOC) Crawford & Co (CRD.B) Discovery Communications Inc (DISCB) FiberTower Corp (FTWR) Haemonetics Corp (HAE) Interactive Intelligence (ININ) Investors Bancorp Inc (ISBC) James Hardie Industries NV (JHX) Meridian Bioscience Inc (VIVO) Monro Muffler Brake Inc (MNRO) NorthWestern Corp (NWE) NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals Corp (NCST) Power Medical Interventions Inc (PMII) Telanetix Inc (TNXI) Tompkins Financial Corp (TMP) Varian Medical Systems Inc (VAR) Virtual Radiologic Corp (VRAD) Western Goldfields Inc (WGW) View the entire Zacks #1 Rank ...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Ajinomoto Co Inc (AJINY) Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALXA) Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions (MDRX) American Caresource Holdings Inc (ANCI) Anesiva Inc (ANSV) Atmos Energy Corp (ATO) BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc (BCRX) Cell Therapeutics Inc (CTIC) CenterPoint Energy Inc (CNP) Conmed Healthcare Management Inc (CMHM) Crawford & Co (CRD.B) Denny's Corp (DENN) The Finish Line Inc (FINL) Flanders Corp (FLDR) Getty Realty Corp (GTY) Haemonetics Corp (HAE) Intelligroup Inc (ITIG) Investors Bancorp Inc (ISBC) Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX) Kirkland's Inc (KIRK) LodgeNet Interactive Corp (LNET) Media General Inc (MEG) Meridian Bioscience Inc (VIVO) Metabasis Therapeutics Inc (MBRX) Multi-Color Corp (LABL) NCI Inc (NCIT) NeuroMetrix Inc (NURO) Nile Therapeutics Inc (NLTX) Power Medical ...