Vimovo Demonstrates Benefit Over Naproxen Yesterday, at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting in San Diego, Pozen (POZN) released data from two phase III trials comparing Vimovo (formerly PN400) to enteric-coasted naproxen (ECN) in patients with osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who are at risk of developing NSAID-associated gastric ulcers. The data demonstrated that patients taking Vimovo experienced significantly greater reduction in severity of dyspepsia (SODA) and overall treatment evaluation for dyspepsia (OTE-DP) compared to patients taking ECN. The OTE-DP results showed 43-46% of the patients on Vimovo reporting positive change at month six vs. only 28-34% on ECN. The results were highly statistically significant. Plus, patients taking Vimovo also had discontinuation rates far below ECN, at 3-5% vs. 11-12%, respectively. The safety of Vimovo was also superior to ECN, with only 2% of the patients experiencing erosive duodenitis as compared to 10-14% for ...

Today Pozen (POZN) announced the submission of the new drug application (NDA) to the U.S. FDA, seeking marketing approval for Vimovo (proposed trade name for PN-400) for the treatment of signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis in patients who are at risk for developing NSAID-associated ulcers.

Vimovo is a combination of 500mg enteric coated naproxen and 20mg immediate release esomeprazole. In early December 2008, Pozen released positive top-line data from its 400-301/-302 phase III program testing PN-400 (20mg esomeprazole / 500mg naproxen) vs. 500mg enteric coated naproxen alone. Results show that 400 patients total in both trials taking PN-400 experienced statistically significant fewer number of confirmed gastric ulcers by endoscopy compared to 400 subjects receiving enteric coated naproxen during the six-month period.

Pozen expects to receive a milestone payment of $10 million when the NDA is formally accepted for review by the FDA. We

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - April 29, 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: McDonald's (MCD), Coca-Cola (KO), Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS), United States Steel Corp. (X) and Pfizer Inc. (PFE).

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 Tuesday's Analyst Blog:

McDonald's Calling the "Doctor"

McDonald's (MCD) is replacing Pibb Xtra (aka Mr. Pibb) from Coca-Cola (KO) with Dr Pepper at all of its 14,000 U.S. restaurants. The 5-year agreement with Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) will expand the

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Pfizer First Quarter Earnings This morning, Pfizer Inc. (PFE) reported financial results for the period ending March 31, 2009. Revenue came in at $10,845 million, compared to our and the Street estimates of $10,885 million and $11,080 million, respectively. Revenue fell 8% from the first quarter 2008 and was down 3% excluding the negative impact from foreign exchange.U.S. sales fell 10% to $5.0 billion while international sales of $5.9 billion were down 7%, but increased by 3% on an operational basis.Lipitor sales fell 13% in the quarter and were down 17% in the U.S. This was significantly below our estimate. It appears the weak economy is accelerating a shift to lower-cost generic statins, including simvastatin (generic Zocor). Sales of Celebrex and Geodon were also weaker than expected.As expected, Chantix sales were weak and fell 36% in the quarter as safety ...

This morning the rumors are circulating that Pfizer (PFE) is in talks to acquire fellow drug maker Wyeth (WYE). In fact, sources close to the two firms say talks have been ongoing for months, but that a potential deal is still far off.Nevertheless, should Pfizer absorb Wyeth, it would be the largest drug merger combination in years.Financing seems to be the biggest hurdle to finalizing a deal at this point. Wyeth management could be looking for as much as 50% in cash. Wyeth currently trades with a market value of $55 billion. Assuming a 10-20% premium would mean that Pfizer may need to pony up close to $30 billion in cash to close the deal.Pfizer held roughly $26 billion in cash at the end of the year, but little is known how much of that cash is held in the U.S. ...