Recently, Alkermes Inc. (ALKS) announced that its drug Vivitrol, which is indicated for the treatment of alcohol dependence, also helped opioid addicts stay away from drugs. Data from the six-month late-stage trial (n=250) demonstrated that subjects injected with Vivitrol (naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension) once a month were more likely to pass a urine test compared to recipients of a placebo injection. Furthermore, subjects reported a lower craving for drugs, and half the subjects came clean in at least 90% of their drug tests.   The subjects were addicted to opioid drugs including heroin. Before enrolling for the trial, they had to stay away from drugs for at least a week. The most common adverse event affecting patients during the study were inflammation of the nose and throat in addition to insomnia.   The positive results have formed the basis of Alkermes’ decision to file a supplemental new ...

Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) reported a loss of 19 cents per share in the third quarter, which was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 30 cents. In the prior-year period, the company had incurred a loss of 47 cents. Total revenues for the quarter were $211.2 million, down 3.3% year over year.   Revenues consisted of $192.9 million in product sales and $18.3 million in collaborative payments from partner Eli Lilly (LLY). Product sales comprised $171.1 million in sales of Byetta and $21.8 million in sales of Symlin. Byetta sales declined both on a yearly and sequential basis. The company attributed the sequential decline in Byetta sales to an increase in wholesaler stocking in the previous quarter. We believe Byetta continues to be affected by safety issues surrounding the use of the drug.   Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased to $80.1 million from ...

Recently, Alkermes Inc. (ALKS) announced that its pipeline candidate, ALKS33, for addiction and nervous system disorders, gave positive results in two early stage clinical trials. Results from the two studies, ALK33-003 and ALK33-004, demonstrated that the candidate blocked the effects of an opioid with an action duration that supported once daily dosing.  The studies were initiated in May this year. ALK33-003, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-dose study, evaluated the pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of multiple doses of ALKS33 in 30 healthy volunteers. ALK33-004, a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dose study, was designed to examine the ability of ALKS33 to block the effects of an opioid following a single oral dose of ALKS33 in 24 healthy, non-dependent, opioidexperienced subjects.  ALKS33, an oral opioid modulator, was generally well-tolerated in both the studies. The company intends to move the candidate into mid-stage studies by the end of this calendar year. ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 9, 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: Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN), Merck (MRK), Glaxo (GSK), Bristol (BMY) and Eli Lilly (LLY).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:

Amylin Update Post ADA Meeting

This past weekend, Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) presented several abstracts and oral presentations at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) meeting in New Orleans. At the meeting, Amylin presented long-term follow-up data from the 74-week open label portion of the DURATION-1 program that demonstrated

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The pharmaceutical industry is entering a period of substantial change in 2009. Most of the names in the industry are facing significant patent challenges in the years to come. U.S.-based firms are facing foreign exchange headwinds, as well. Revenue growth is non-existent, and earnings growth is being driven primarily by mergers, cost-cutting and share buybacks. Knowing that investors rarely pay-up for this type of manufactured earnings growth, we struggle to see a broad-based out-performance for the large-cap pharmaceutical sector in 2009.Valuations, however, are attractive, with several of the largest players trading at PEs below 10x, including: Pfizer (PFE, 7.5x), Eli Lilly (LLY, 8.1x), Merck (MRK, 8.3x), Sanofi (SNY, 7.5x), AstraZeneca (AZN, 7.6x) and GlaxoSmithKline (gsk, 9.3x) based on our fiscal 2009 estimates. Attractive valuations, along with big dividend yields, should protect investors against significant downside risk even if the economy continues ...

Novo Nordisk (NVO) shares sank a day after U.S. health experts' failure to reach a unanimous decision regarding approval of the company's Victoza sparked fears of delay in the launch of the diabetes drug.

On Thursday, an advisory panel of the Food and Drug Administration remained split in a 6-6 vote on safety of the liraglutide drug candidate. The trial data showed tumors that increased the risk of thyroid cancer in rodents but Novo Nordisk claimed humans would not react similarly to the drug.

While the Danish pharmaceutical giant could not convince a majority of panelists on that account, it got clearance for heart risks associated with similar drugs in the category. The final decision now rests with the FDA. Despite the setback, Novo Nordisk Chief Executive Lars Rebien Sorensen said he still expects the potential blockbuster drug to win approval.

Liraglutide or Victoza will be

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The pharmaceutical industry is entering a period of substantial change in 2009. Most of the names in the industry are facing significant patent challenges in the years to come. U.S.-based firms are facing foreign exchange headwinds, as well. Revenue growth is non-existent, and earnings growth is being driven primarily by mergers, cost-cutting and share buybacks.

Knowing that investors rarely pay-up for this type of manufactured earnings growth, we struggle to see a broad-based out-performance for the large-cap pharmaceutical sector in 2009.

Valuations, however, are attractive, with several of the largest players trading at PEs below 10x, including Pfizer (7x), Eli Lilly (8x), Merck (8x), Sanofi (7x), AstraZeneca (7x) and GlaxoSmithKline (9x) based on our fiscal 2009 estimates. Attractive valuations, along with big dividend yields, should protect investors against significant downside risk even if the economy continues to languish well into the second half of the year.

Additionally, expectations are low. Knowing that most

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The pharmaceutical industry is entering a period of substantial change in 2009. Most of the names in the industry are facing significant patent challenges in the years to come. U.S.-based firms are facing foreign exchange headwinds, as well. Revenue growth is non-existent, and earnings growth is being driven primarily by mergers, cost-cutting and share buybacks.Knowing that investors rarely pay-up for this type of manufactured earnings growth, we struggle to see a broad-based out-performance for the large-cap pharmaceutical sector in 2009.Valuations, however, are attractive, with several of the largest players trading at PEs below 10x, including Pfizer (7x), Eli Lilly (8x), Merck (8x), Sanofi (7x), AstraZeneca (7x) and GlaxoSmithKline (9x) based on our fiscal 2009 estimates. Attractive valuations, along with big dividend yields, should protect investors against significant downside risk even if the economy continues to languish well into the second half of the year....

Large pharmaceutical companies all seem to be in a similar boat heading into 2009. Most of the names in the industry are facing significant patent challenges in the years to come. U.S.-based firms are facing foreign exchange headwinds as well. Revenue growth is non-existent, and earnings growth is being driven primarily by cost-cutting and share buybacks.

Knowing that investors rarely pay-up for this type of manufactured earnings growth, we struggle to see a broad-based out-performance for the large-cap pharmaceutical sector in 2009.

Valuations, however, are attractive, with several of the largest players trading at PEs below 10x, including Pfizer (

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Large pharmaceutical companies all seem to be in a similar boat heading into 2009. Most of the names in the industry are facing significant patent challenges in the years to come. U.S.-based firms are facing foreign exchange headwinds as well. Revenue growth is non-existent, and earnings growth is being driven primarily by cost-cutting and share buybacks.

Knowing that investors rarely pay-up for this type of manufactured earnings growth, we struggle to see a broad-based out-performance for the large-cap pharmaceutical sector in 2009.

Valuations, however, are attractive, with several of the largest players trading at PEs below 10x, including Pfizer (PFE, 7x), Eli Lilly (LLY, 9x), Merck (MRK, 9x), Sanofi (SNY, 9x), and Schering-Plough (SGP, 10x) based on our fiscal 2009 estimates. Attractive valuations, along with big dividend yields, should protect investors against significant downside risk even if the economy continues to languish well into the second half

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