Amgen (AMGN) reported third quarter earnings per share of $1.47, well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.26 and 21% above the year-ago earnings of $1.21. Cost cuts and a lower tax rate helped boost the top-line despite a 2% decline in total revenues, which came in at $3,812 million. Total product sales decreased 1% to $3,736 million. While sales in the U.S. were relatively unchanged at $2,918 million, international sales declined 4% to $818 million mainly due to the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange (Fx) fluctuation, which affected sales by approximately $76 million. Aranesp sales declined 19% to $685 million (U.S. - $333 million, down 27%; ex-U.S. - $352 million, down 9%), mainly due to a decline in demand reflecting the negative impact, primarily in the supportive cancer care setting, of additional product label changes which occurred in August 2008. Aranesp continued to lose share ...

Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: CHIP, ENZ, GERS, IWEB, OMCM, ONEZ, XSNX

Markets hit fresh highs for ‘09 yet again last week, as the first round of earnings helped to assuage investor concerns that operating results would underpin robust gains in equities this year. All told, the Dow gained 130 points to end the week at 9995 after briefly cracking the 10,000 mark, gaining 1.3% on the week and extending its gains to 13.9% on the year. The Nasdaq gained 0.8% on the week to close at 2156, up 36.8% on the year, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 gained 1.5% and 0.2% respectively, bringing their YTD totals to 20.4% and 23.4%.

Earnings stole the spotlight last week as things got off to a strong start early with JP Morgan handily beating expectations calling for $0.51 per share, reporting earnings of $0.82 per share. Citigroup

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Abbott Laboratories (ABT) reported third quarter earnings of 92 cents per share, 2 cents above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 90 cents. Results were above the company’s guidance of 88 – 90 cents. Earnings increased 16.5% from the year-ago period. Total revenues grew 3.5% to $7,761 million. Revenues were negatively impacted by 4.9% due to foreign exchange (Fx) headwinds. Sales in the Pharmaceutical division totaled $4,055 million, down 1.6% and negatively impacted by about 5.5% due to Fx. Strong Humira and lipid franchise sales were offset by weak performance of Depakote, which is facing intense generic competition. The lipid franchise posted sales of $545 million. The recent launch of TriLipix, which will be co-promoted with AstraZeneca (AZN), should help drive lipid franchise sales. Meanwhile, we were pleased to see that Humira continued to perform well in both U.S. and international markets -- we ...

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) recently announced that the company will purchase the pharmaceutical arm of Belgium’s Solvay Group for $6.5 billion. This deal expands both the company’s product range and the company’s presence in fast-growing emerging countries, helping defer the effect of patent expiries and compensate for sluggish growth in its traditional markets, such as the United States.

We also have the recent $442 million paid by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) for 18% of Crucell ADR (NASDAQ: CRXL). This will give Johnson & Johnson the development rights on a flu vaccine designed to protect against all future strains of the virus. This deal confirms the company’s move into vaccines, alongside drugs and consumer products.

These deals are further confirmation of the consolidation trend that is occurring right now in the global pharmaceutical industry.

One major factor driving the consolidation trend is the slowdown in sales of pharmaceuticals, particularly in the United

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Yesterday, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) released inconsistent results for its colon cancer drug Erbitux (cetuximab) from two late-stage studies. Among the two retrospective analyses of the pivotal phase III studies, CRYSTAL and COIN, one reported positive results while the other failed to meet its primary end point. Erbitux is sold by Merck KGaA, Eli Lilly (LLY) and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

CRYSTAL is a multi-national study conducted by Merck KGaA. Erbitux, when added to Folfiri (a chemotherapy regimen) increased median overall survival to 19.9 months in an intent-to-treat population of first-line metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients compared to 18.6 months in the recipients of Folfiri only.

Moreover, when studied in a subset of mCRC patients with normal or wild-type version of a gene called KRAS, the median overall survival increased to 23.5 months in patients who received Erbitux plus Folfiri as against 20 months for those who took Folfiri alone.

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Yesterday, Amgen (AMGN) presented data from a phase III trial of its Vectibix in combination with Folfiri (an irinotecan based chemotherapy) as a second-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer at the 2009 ECCO 15 - ESMO 34 European Multidisciplinary Congress in Berlin.

In the trial, Vectibix significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with tumors containing a specific gene known as KRAS. Tumor KRAS status was confirmed in 91% of the 1,186 patients enrolled in the trial, the highest number ever reported for a second-line trial.

The combination treatment of Vectibix and Folfiri achieved the co-primary endpoint by improving the median PFS by 2 months (5.9 months versus 3.9 months) compared to Folfiri alone. The combination also showed significant improvement (35% versus 10%) in tumor response rate in patients. However, even though the median overall survival was numerically better (14.5 months versus 12.5 months), it did not achieve

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Amgen (AMGN) maintained a strong presence at the 2009 ECCO 15 - ESMO 34 European Multidisciplinary Congress in Berlin, Germany where the company presented data on lead pipeline candidate, denosumab. The company presented solid data on denosumab from a phase III study that was conducted in 1,776 advanced cancer patients with solid tumors (not including breast and prostate cancer) or multiple myeloma. Top-line results from this study were presented in August 2009. Overall results were good, with denosumab not causing any imbalance in overall survival (OS) or disease progression. Results showed that the median time to first on-study skeletal-related event (SRE) was 20.6 months for patients receiving denosumab and 16.3 months for patients receiving Novartis’ (NVS) Zometa. These results are statistically significant for non-inferiority. Denosumab also delayed the median time to first on-study SRE or hypercalcemia of malignancy (HCM) compared to Zometa. ...

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Wednesday September 16, 2009

DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

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Power3 Medical Products Inc. CEO Interview: Helen R. Park

67 WALL STREET, New York - September 15, 2009 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Medical Research Services report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This 23 page feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Medical Device Research Services - Pharmaceutical Research Services - Diagnostics - Life Science Research Supplies

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DrStockPick.com Watch List!

My Picks for Wednesday September 16, 2009, are:

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MVIS, Microvision, Inc.

MVIS is a global leader in innovative ultra-miniature projection display and image capture products for mobility applications

Today was the commercial introduction of the world’s first laser-based pico projector, called SHOW WX™, based on its proprietary PicoP® display engine technology.

The MVIS pico projector uses the revolutionary laser-based PicoP display engine that delivers large, colorful, bright, and vivid images that are always in focus, regardless of projection distance. The accessory product is a simple plug-n-play pico projector for people on-the-go who

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6Power3 Medical Products Inc. CEO Interview: Helen R. Park7 WALL STREET, New York - September 15, 2009 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Medical Research Services report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This 23 page feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Medical Device Research Services - Pharmaceutical Research Services - Diagnostics - Life Science Research Supplies - Biology R & D - Lab Services Business Model - International Economic Exposure - Effect of Recession on Sector Stocks - Top Stock Winners and Losers in Medical Research Services - Top Stock Winners and Losers in Medical Diagnostics

Companies include: Arrowhead Research (ARWR); Cleveland BioLabs (CBLI); IR BioSciences Holdings (IRBS); Power3 Medical Products (PWRM);

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