After the close of market yesterday, Amgen (AMGN) announced that the longevity of colon cancer patients improved significantly when treated with a combination of its cancer drug Vectibix and Folfox -- a standard chemotherapy drug regimen rather than with chemotherapy alone. The company intends to present detailed results of the trial later this year. The results are based on a late-stage trial (n=1183) and are applicable to patients with the normal version of a gene known as KRAS. 90% of the patients were identified with KRAS mutations that are associated with more aggressive cancers and lower survival rates. Skin toxicity coupled with low magnesium blood levels and diarrhea were the side-effects of the study which tests Vectibix as a primary (first-line) treatment for the disease. Currently the drug can be marketed only for colon cancer patients who have unsuccessfully used two other therapies. Colorectal cancer ...

PennyOmega.com Stock Report!

PennyOmega.com Hot Stock News & Alerts!

 

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

PennyOmega.com Stock Report!

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The Board of Directors of McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) at its meeting today declared a regular dividend of twelve cents per share on the Common Stock, payable on October 1, 2009, to stockholders of record on September 1, 2009.

First Bancorp of Indiana, Inc. (OTCBB: FBPI), the holding company for First Federal Savings Bank, reported earnings of $1.46 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, versus $803,500 last fiscal year. The increased earnings in fiscal 2009 were attributed largely to an improved net interest margin and fee income enhancements that more than offset increased provisions for loan losses and

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DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

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The Board of Directors of McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) at its meeting today declared a regular dividend of twelve cents per share on the Common Stock, payable on October 1, 2009, to stockholders of record on September 1, 2009.

First Bancorp of Indiana, Inc. (OTCBB: FBPI), the holding company for First Federal Savings Bank, reported earnings of $1.46 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, versus $803,500 last fiscal year. The increased earnings in fiscal 2009 were attributed largely to an improved net interest margin and fee income enhancements that more than offset increased provisions for loan losses and greater noninterest expenses. Earnings for the year ended June 30, 2009, represented $0.85 per average outstanding share (diluted)

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Pfizer Inc. (PFE), the world’s biggest drugmaker, may buy Wyeth (WYE) in a deal worth more than $60 billion to make up for sales it expects to lose to generic competition in the next three years. The Wall Street Journal’s report on Friday citing people close to the matter sent pharma shares soaring in anticipation of further consolidation in the industry.

If the deal is completed it would be the biggest pharmaceutical acquisition in at least five years. Sources say the two companies have been in talks for months but a deal isn’t imminent.

As patent expirations and generic pressure loom large, cash-rich industry players like Merck (MRK), Eli Lilly (LLY) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are all looking for accretive acquisitions, taking advantage of attractive prices following turmoil in the stock market. Eli Lilly bought ImClone Systems last October. 

Pfizer’s

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Bristol-Myers Ups Bid to $62 for ImClone Last night, Bristol-Myers (BMY) announced plans to increase its bid for the remaining 83% of ImClone Systems (IMCL) it does not already own to $62 per share and plans to take the offer directly to shareholders in the form of a tender offer. ImClone and Chairman Carl Icahn rejected a $60 per share cash bid from Bristol-Myers at the end of July and stated that a mystery big pharma bidder had emerged at $70 per share, as I last wrote about here. Besides Bristol-Myers 17% stake in ImClone, the two companies are marketing partners for Erbitux in North America (BMY receives 61% of sales in the U.S. and Canada) and recently filed with ...

ImClone Systems (IMCL) has rejected an unsolicited $60 per share bid from U.S. Erbitux marketing partner Bristol-Myers (BMY) made at the end of July and announced today that it has received an offer from an unidentified big pharma company for $70 per share in cash. ImClone has received the formal offer and will allow two weeks for the bidding company to conduct due diligence. ImClone Chairman and prominent activist investor Carl Icahn has been in talks with the CEO of the pharmaceutical company which made the new offer, representing a premium of over 10% from the closing price on Tuesday of $63.65 per share. While numerous big pharma companies could be potential bidders for ImClone, Pfizer (PFE) would be my best guess as the mystery buyer as ...

Checking on the biotechnology sector, we spoke with Zacks senior analyst Grant Zeng, CFA about recent developments among these companies. We discussed M&A [mergers and acquisitions] activity as well as top Buy recommendations.

How has earnings season gone this quarter? Any major surprises?

As you know, most of the companies covered by me are small-cap biotech companies which usually report their quarterly earnings quite late. I just finished updating all my companies last week and I have both positive and negative surprises.

On the positive side, Celgene’s (CELG) Revlimid beat our estimate by $15.8 million; Vidaza sales beat our estimate by $7.2 million. Total product sales beat our estimate by $16.5 million with quarterly sales of $542 million. Celgene’s adjusted EPS also beat our estimate by 6 cents. We have a Hold rating on Celgene due to valuation concerns.

For BioMarin (BMRN), sales for all three

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Shares of ImClone Systems (IMCL) are skyrocketing in pre-market action, trading up over 40% to around $66 per share on word of a $60 per share all-cash buyout offer by Bristol-Myers (BMY), which is its partner for EGFR cancer therapy Erbitux.

The market is anticipating a higher bid for ImClone as it is trading about 10% above the buyout offer. This deal follows a spate of biotech deals in recent times, including Roche’s buyout offer for its remaining stake in Genetech (DNA).

The accompanying chart displays the performance of ImClone, Bristol-Myers, and the iShares Nasdaq Biotech ETF (IBB) over the past year.