For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 9, 2009 - Zacks.com releases the latest Industry Outlook. Today's interview is with senior analyst Jason Napodano, CFA, who talks about the Pharmaceuticals & Biotech Industry, including Wyeth (WYE), Merck (MRK), Schering-Plough (SGP), Bristol-Myers (BMY) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).

A synopsis of today's Industry Outlook is presented below. The full article can be read at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.

M&A activity remains the wildcard for investment in the sector. We have already seen three significant mega-deals so far in 2009, with Pfizer's $62 billion acquisition of Wyeth (WYE) leading the way. Roche's $46 billion takeover of Genentech and Merck's (MRK) $42 billion acquisition of Schering-Plough (SGP) prove that companies are desperately seeking for ways to grow the top-line while cutting-costs all at the same time.

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Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(Public, NASDAQ:ACAD)

A San Diego drug maker is hoping an infusion of research capital will allow it to continue its work in searching for Parkinson’s disease treatments.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD)‎, which hopes its drug, pimavanserin, will treat Parkinson’s-related psychosis, recently received $30 million from Canadian pharmaceuticals company Biovail Corp. (NYSE: BVF) in a deal that could see additional investment should the drug succeed during current trials. The pact covers the co-development and commercialization of pimavanserin, which is in a Phase III trial.

Acadia is utilizing innovative technology to fuel drug discovery and clinical development of novel treatments for central nervous system disorders.  It’s an intriguing trade opportunity because many analysts believe the stock continues to trade below cash value.

ACAD closed on Wednesday at $1.76 up 0.06 (3.53%) and has had a 52wk Range between $0.72 - $8.84 per

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A number of pharma companies are on the rise today in response to swine flu concerns, but Novavax, Inc. (NVAX) is among the heaviest gainers with a surge of more than 100%. That easily makes the company a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank for Monday.

< ?DART(15);?> Volume is off the charts today as almost 36 million shares have traded, compared to the average of about 256,000.

NVAX is a clinical-stage biotechnology company creating novel vaccines to address a broad range of infectious diseases worldwide using advanced proprietary virus-like particles (VLP) technology.

Over the weekend, federal officials declared a public health emergency. So far, about 22 people have died from the swine flu in Mexico, while there have been about 40 reported cases in the U.S. NVAX has VLP vaccine candidates against seasonal influenza and potential pandemic influenza strains in phase II clinical development.

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Obama's Healthcare Plan Is Big Bark, Small Bite by Jason Napodano, CFA

When President Obama's administration released the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, drug stocks quickly dropped. Fears of socialized medicine, or "Hillary-Care 2.0" turned investors away from the sector.

Was the drop warranted?

There are 6 key components to healthcare reform that could have a meaningful impact on pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the near future.Four of these are potentially negative, whereas the other 2 are potentially positive.

First Potential Negative: Increasing Pricing Rebates

The new proposal calls for an increase in Medicaid rebates from the current level of 15% to 21%. This equates to a 6% decrease in pricing power by all the companies in our universe into the Medicaid market. If we delve deeper into the ramification of this

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - April 3, 2009 - Zacks.com releases the latest Industry Outlook. Today's interview is with senior analyst Jason Napodano, who talks about the Pharmaceutical Industry, including Bristol-Myers

(BMY), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT).

Chicago, IL - April 3, 2009 - Zacks.com releases the latest Industry Outlook. Today's interview is with senior analyst Jason Napodano, who talks about the Pharmaceutical Industry, including Bristol-Myers (BMY), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT).

A synopsis of today's Industry Outlook is presented below. The full article can be read at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.

We have three Buy-rated names within the large-cap space: Bristol-Myers (BMY), Johnson & Johnson

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All eyes were on Washington this week. President Obama signed the stimulus package into law and unveiled a new housing rescue package.

Neither is perfect, but perfection and the federal government are an oxymoron. Let us just hope that if things don't work as planned, the president stays true to his word and comes up with a different plan.

Stimulus Package

The stimulus package was both too small and too bloated.

A smaller stimulus package that garnered true bipartisan support would have been better. Specifically, a bill with a bigger focus on tax cuts, especially payroll taxes, and infrastructure spending.

Conceivably, such a plan would have gotten broader support. If Republicans felt they had more of their ideas factored into the bill, the White House might have had more leverage to ask for additional stimulus funds in the future. < ?DART(15);?>

On the other side of the aisle, some Democrats

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Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) is a global research-driven pharmaceutical products company. Merck is entering a challenging period over the next few years. Revenues have stalled and will actually begin to decline in the next few years due to patent expirations and key late-stage pipeline failures.Earnings should decline in 2009 due to the stalled topline and a higher tax rate. Still, Merck is dramatically cutting costs and buying back shares. This should allow management to deliver positive EPS growth in 2010.In the meantime, we do not see the shares outperforming until investors get more clarity on what will drive the topline over the next few years. We also fear that Merck may follow its U.S. rival Pfizer (PFE) and attempt a massive acquisition. This keeps us on the sideline. We see $34 as fair value.Jason Napodano, CFA, contributed to the report….

We believe Pfizer Inc. (PFE) continues to face an uphill battle in growing its top-line given the company's sheer size and lack of a significant pipeline. Near-term earnings growth will come in the form of cost-cutting and sharerepurchases.The Wyeth (WYE) deal will bring additional size and further opportunity to cut costs, but little in the way of revenue growth. The Lipitor patent expiration in 2011 remains a concern.We have changed our rating to Hold based on lingering growth concerns, depleted cash balance, reduced dividend and disappointing 2009 financial guidance. We see $18 as fair-value.Jason Napodano, CFA contributed to this report.Read the full analyst report on PFERead the full analyst report on WYE "PFE" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?"WYE" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?...

Shire PLC (SHPGY) is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on 3 therapeutic areas: Central nervous system (CNS), gastro intestinal (GI), and renal disorders. The company's ADHD franchise continues to perform very well, increasing market share to 33%. Strong topline growth in 2008 will reverse in 2009 due to the presence of generic Adderall XR.

Going into 2009 we expect a modest foreign exchange headwind for some of Shire's products. This, along with Adderall XR sales dramatically falling, should result in 2009 revenues falling by about 4% versus 2008. For the full-year 2008 we look for EPADR of $3.77, representing 39% growth over 2007. We expect EPADR to average a CAGR of 6% over the next 5 years through 2013.

Longer-term sales growth will materialize as Vyvanse and other new drugs fill the hole left by generic Adderall XR. Vyvanse, the company's new flagship ADHD product, continues to perform

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Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) is entering a challenging period, brought about by recent pipeline disappointments, most notably uncertainty surrounding antiplatelet drug, prasugrel. Although we believe the underlying fundamentals of the company remain solid, the recent pipeline setbacks and the high price of the ImClone acquisition will likely limit the upside to the stock.We also expect generic competition to key drugs to result in negative longer-term EPS growth. We see little movement in the stock due to these issues. We rate the shares a Hold with a $42 price target.It is likely that Zyprexa sales are now near peak levels and will experience a slow decline beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008. Generic competition in Germany and Canada will continue to temper international growth and the June 2008 launch of generic Risperdal will shave domestic market share.Jason Napodano, CFA contributed to ...