Alcon, Inc. (ACL) recently entered into an in-licensing agreement with Potentia Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held biotechnology company that focuses on the development of medicines for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Alcon gained the right to develop Potentia's leading drug candidate, POT-4, for the treatment of AMD. Alcon also gained the right to acquire Potentia’s shares on the achievement of certain development milestones and if Alcon opts to continue with the development of POT-4.   Alcon will make upfront payments to Potentia for the initial license and option rights. Potentia is also entitled to receive future payments based on the achievement of several clinical and global regulatory approval milestones for different therapeutic indications and on Alcon's decision to proceed with development. Potentia will also receive royalties based on sales of any products that are approved and commercialized under this agreement.   POT-4 is a complement inhibitor, which is ...

Sanofi-Aventis has recently been very close to MA-based Dyax. Recently Sanofi-Aventis had made an announcement that they have entered into an agreement with Fovea Pharmaceuticals for US$ 540 million to partner with the pharmaceutical giant for eye therapy. Currently, Fovea Pharmaceuticals and Dyax were developing a drug for eye indication treatment. Additionally, Sanofi-Aventis entered into an exclusive collaboration and licensing deal with Dyax’s licensee, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals to acquire the rights to MM-121, an antibody for the treatment of cancer related diseases.

Sanofi-Aventis deal with Fovea Pharmaceuticals leaves Sanofi partnered with Dyax in a joint development agreement that covers DX-88, an early stage RVO (retinal vein occlusion) induced macular edema which is commonly known as swelling under the central area of the retina. Soon after the news about the Sanofi-Aventis agreement with

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Last week, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (REGN) announced the completion of enrollment in two late stage studies of its VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) trap-eye treatment for age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), a leading cause of blindness in adults. Each of the randomized, double-masked trials has enrolled more than the target of 1,200 patients. The company is developing the drug in partnership with Bayer HealthCare (BAYRY.PK). The study will be a non-inferiority comparison of the VEGF trap-eye with ranibizumab (Lucentis from Genentech, Inc- now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Roche group (RHHBY.PK)), an anti-angiogenic agent approved for use in wet AMD. The company expects one-year primary endpoint data from both studies in the fourth quarter of 2010. As a reminder, Regeneron and Bayer HealthCare entered into a collaboration agreement in Oct 2006 for the development and commercialization of the VEGF trap-Eye outside ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 18, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights ON Semiconductor (ONNN) as the Bull of the Day and Developers Diversified (DDR) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Alcon Inc.(ACL), AstraZeneca (AZN) and Allergan, Inc.(AGN).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

ON Semiconductor (ONNN) is an OEM of primarily analog semiconductors used within a diverse set of end markets. June quarter results beat consensus expectations, with management guiding for stronger results in the September quarter.

Recent acquisitions, a broad product portfolio, a well diversified business across end markets and geographies, restructuring actions and debt reduction initiatives are other positive factors.

While competition is strong as ever and restrictive covenants and some residual integration

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Below are companies with market caps under $250 million from the BioMedReports.com FDA Calendar, which have either pending FDA decisions or pending clinical trial results that may have a major impact on each of the underlying stock prices. A high risk/reward trading approach to consider for speculative traders is investing a small amount of money that you can afford to lose in a basket of stocks included in Extreme FDA and Clinical Trial Calendar Trades, which are highlighted in periodic articles at BioMedReports.com. Another approach is to simply buy such companies well ahead of their expected catalyst dates for a possible stock price increase as the date approaches and trading activity increases.

BioMimetic Therapeutics [BMTI: 9.07, -0.52 (-5.42%)]: On 6/17/09, BMTI announced that it has submitted both the pre-clinical pharmacology/toxicology and quality/manufacturing modules of its Premarket Approval (PMA) application for marketing of Augment Bone Graft

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