Results from Arena’s (ARNA) phase III BLOSSOM study are strikingly similar to the BLOOM study, with mean total weight loss for the 10mg lorcaserin BID group coming in at 17.0 lbs in BLOSSOM vs. 17.9 lbs in BLOOM. These equated to 7.9% and 8.2% mean absolute weight loss. The placebo was 3.9% and 3.4% in each trial, respectively, putting the mean placebo-adjusted weight loss for each trial at 4.0% and 4.8%. Total categorical weight loss for the completer analysis was 63.2% in BLOSSOM and 66.4% in BLOOM, vs. 34.9% and 32.1% for the placebo. Per the FDA draft guidance: “A product can be considered effective for weight management if after one year of treatment either of the following occurs: (1) the difference in mean weight loss between the active-product and placebo-treated groups is at least 5% and the difference is statistically significant, or (2) the proportion of subjects who lose ...

Yesterday, Novartis (NVS) released encouraging data on its investigational respiratory drug QAB149 which is being developed for the treatment of patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The drug, to be used once daily, improved lung function and significantly reduced breathlessness in a late stage trial compared to Pfizer’s (PFE) Spiriva (tiotropium), a treatment currently used. The data were presented this week at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) 2009 Annual Congress in Vienna. QAB149 is currently under regulatory review in the European Union, the US and several other countries for the treatment of COPD. The trial carried out for both 12 weeks and 26 weeks showed better results with QAB149 compared to Spiriva. Apart from improving lung function and reducing breathlessness, patients on QAB149 recorded greater than 20% increase in days, when no 'relief' medication or therapies were required to treat severe breathlessness, compared ...

Shares of MAP Pharmaceuticals Inc. (MAPP) more than tripled in value on Tuesday after the company said its experimental migraine candidate accomplished the rare feat of meeting all four targets in the last stage of clinical trials.

The drug Levadex showed a significant number of patients got relief from severe headache within 30 minutes of taking the inhaled formula. Compared with a dummy drug at 2 hours, Levadex also proved more efficient in relieving all common symptoms of migraine such as pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound. The drug did not lead to any serious adverse events in the study.

These results could mark a turning point for the company that saw its shares slumping in February as its late-stage pediatric asthma drug failed to show any significant improvement compared with a placebo.

If the drug gets approved by the US Food and Drug

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by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /According to Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach last week, Russia's economy shrank by 7 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2009, a staggering turnaround for an economy which has just enjoyed eight years of solid oil-fueled growth.br /br /"These figures are worse than we expected," Klepach said at a press conference in Kiev,citing preliminary figures. Klepach also stated that net capital outflows reached $33 billion in the first quarter of 2009, following record outflows of $130 billion in the second half of last year.br /br /pa href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SdsTJmo57XI/AAAAAAAANbI/gYR1beR2NiI/s1600-h/russia+gdp.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321868440380239218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 229px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SdsTJmo57XI/AAAAAAAANbI/gYR1beR2NiI/s400/russia+gdp.png" border="0" //abr /br /The Russian State Statistics Service have also released official gross domestic product figures for the fourth quarter of 2008. GDP was up 1.2 percent year on year, the worst reading for any quarter since ...

Arena's Weight Loss Drug Provides Thin ResultsThis morning Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) released important phase III data on obesity drug lorcaserin. The data show the patients taking 10mg lorcaserin twice daily lost 12.7 lbs, or 5.8% of their body weight on an intent-to-treat basis over the first 12-months of the study vs. 4.7 lbs, or 2.2% of their body weight for patients taking placebo. Additionally, 47.5% of the patient taking lorcaserin lost at least 5% of their body weight compared to only 20.3% taking the placebo.These results satisfy the 2 FDA requirements for approvability, in our view. More importantly, there was no statistically significant associated risk of developing valvulopathy (heart value damage) for patients taking lorcaserin vs. placebo over the entire two year study period.Increased risk of heart value damage is what forced Wyeth (WYE) to pull its obesity candidate, Phen-Fen, off ...

China Sky Medical (CSKI) is a maker and distributor of over-the-counter nutritional supplements and herb-based pharmaceutical and medicinal products, primarily in China. The company’s products fall into the genre of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), a medical science that has been practiced in China for 5,000 years and is still wildly popular today. China’s multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical market is predicted to grow at a double-digit rate over the next several years and TCM is expected to have a 20-percent share of the burgeoning market.

China Sky Medical’s products include the sumei slim patch to foster weight loss and prevent weight gain; a pain killer patch used for the treatment of various ailments, including fever, headache, dysentery, diarrhea, and stiffness and pain in the neck caused by hypertension; and the anti-hypertension patch that improves circulation and reduces blood pressure. The China-based company also sells eye drops, dandruff shampoo, a kidney disease

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REO PropertiesReal Estate Owned (REO) Properties and ListingsMany of you in the hedge fund industry who read my blog also frequently visit Hedge Fund Message Board.com or other online forums. You may remember 9-12 months ago a large set of REO brokers and sales agents practically taking over a few online forum in the online hedge fund community trying to connect with hedge fund managers looking for REOs. They were quickly banned and considered spam but I do get emails from many of them - usually 2-3/week.Upfront, I want to be clear that I do not want to get into the business of brokering or helping as a sales agent for banks or REO firms. I would ...

Even when all concerned are on the same page, bringing product to market is a difficult process. Add in a few people and/or conditions that are not pulling in the same direction, and the entire process can become a major headache. Some markets are more oriented toward the headache end of the spectrum but are generally that way because there is a tremendous payoff when the product does make it to market. An investor who wants a big payoff is an investor who is willing to ride the ups and downs of a tumultuous development process to a profitable end.

ERHC Energy Inc., an oil and gas exploration and development company, works to find and exploit oil and gas deposits primarily off the coast of Central West Africa. Although the company has rights to several development blocks off the coasts of the Democratic Republic of Nigeria and the Democratic Republic

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It is always amusing to see the end of the day gain or loss in the indexes, and how it sometimes hides the wild action of the day. Today was one of those days - we gapped down (bearish), rallied from what appeared to be a test of support (bullish), gave that all up and tested new lows - 1260 (bearish), and then reversed and rallied to the highs of the day (bullish). For all that action and headache, it just took us back to right near where we closed yesterday. But it scared and/or emboldened traders multiple times, in completely different directions. Absolutely nuts - as they say in bear markets neither bulls nor bears have an easy time making money (the strongest rallies are usually contained within bear markets, but they are sudden and out of the blue).Here is a ...

Central bankers seem bipolar these days as they to try to solve two structural problems with apparently mutually exclusive solutions — rising inflationary pressures and falling asset prices.

China just raised its interest rates again in the face of inflation reaching a 10-year high.  China’s inflation will inevitably be exported to the countries that consume their goods.  Manufacturers there are beginning to strain under growing labor shortages and raw materials and energy costs.