Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CUR, CVM, DKAM, ENZ, IMUC, MFGD, NXOI, OMCM, ONEZ, PSID, XSNX

Markets continued to carry momentum during the early stages of last week, as the absence of significant economic news led to a continuation of the upward trend characterizing the past few weeks, until an earnings miss from Dell on Thursday led to a selloff in the technology sector which caused the major indices to end the week mixed. All told, the Dow ended the week in positive territory, gaining 47 points to close at 10318, up 0.5% on the week and 17.6% on the year. The Nasdaq surrendered 1.0% to close at 2146, paring its YTD gains to 36.1%, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 lost 0.2% and 0.3% respectively, reducing their yearly gains to 20.8 and 17.1.

Things got off to a strong start on Monday, with the

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SurModics’ (SRDX) fourth-quarter earnings per share came in at 18 cents, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 20 cents. The company reported revenues of $19.2 million, down 17% compared to the year ago period. In addition to quarterly results, SurModics came out with fiscal year 2009 results. The company recorded revenues of $121.5 million in 2009, up 25%, compared to $97 million in the previous year and earnings per share of $1.07 for 2009.

On a business unit basis, apart from Diagnostic, revenues from the other three segments – Cardiovascular, Ophthalmology and Other Markets, recorded a decline in revenues for the fourth quarter. While Diagnostic revenues increased 2% year over year to $4.6 million, revenues for the other three segments declined 12% to $9.8 million, 29% to $1.9 million and 41% to $2.9 million, respectively.

Cardiovascular segment results were impacted by the continuing decline in Cypher sales. SurModics derives a substantial

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Abbott Labs (ABT) is looking to launch its XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System in China in the fourth quarter of 2009. The company recently received approval from the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) for the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD). In our opinion, the launch of XIENCE V in China should bring in significant incremental revenues for the company’s Vascular Product division, which posted sales of $2.2 billion in 2008. China is the second-largest drug eluting stent market in the Asia-Pacific region after Japan. With the launch in China, XIENCE V will be available in every Asia-Pacific market except Japan, where the product is currently being reviewed by the regulatory authority. XIENCE V’s launch in Japan in early 2010 could potentially add another $500 million market opportunity. CAD is the leading cause of death in China -- according to the China ...

Abbott Labs (ABT) presented results on XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System from the SPIRIT IV trial yesterday at the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference in San Francisco. Results showed that XIENCE V achieved superiority in the key safety and efficacy measures of target lesion failure (TLF) and target lesion revascularization (TLR) compared to Boston Scientific’s (BSX) Taxus Express2 Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System at one year. The study was conducted with about 3,690 patients. XIENCE V demonstrated a statistically significant 38% reduction in TLF compared to Taxus. Target lesion failure occurred in 4.2% of the XIENCE V patients compared to 6.8% of the patients in the Taxus arm. XIENCE V also demonstrated a statistically significant 46% reduction in TLR compared to Taxus. Target lesion revascularization occurred in 2.5% of the XIENCE V patients compared to 4.6% of the patients in the Taxus arm....

Yesterday, Abbott (ABT) presented positive long-term data on the XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System from the pivotal SPIRIT III study conducted in the U.S.

Results showed that clinical advantages associated with the use of XIENCE V continued to increase compared to Boston Scientific's (BSX) Taxus Express2 Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System.

At three years, XIENCE V demonstrated a reduction in the risk of major adverse cardiac events (9.1% for XIENCE V compared to 15.7% for Taxus). XIENCE V also demonstrated a reduction in the risk of Target Lesion Failure (8.3% for XIENCE V versus 14.4% for Taxus), a reduction in the risk of Target Vessel Failure (13.5% for XIENCE V compared to 19.2% for Taxus) and a reduction in the risk of heart attacks (3.7% for XIENCE V compared to 6.3% for Taxus).

These results were presented at the 2009 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference in San Francisco. The

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Medtronic, Inc. (MDT) is recalling some LifePak CR defibrillators as humidity may cause them to malfunction. These defibrillators were manufactured and distributed between July 9 and August 19 in 2008. The company started the process of recalling the products from July 31, 2009. Defibrillators are designed to fix abnormal heart rhythms by delivering electric shocks. The affected products may break down in extreme humidity as they may fail to analyze the heart rhythm correctly. The device might not affect any electric shocks or delay sending electric shocks, which may seriously injure the patient. The products were manufactured by the company’s Physio-Control unit. Though the magnitude of the product recall has not been disclosed, we think that this will hurt Medtronic’s bottom-line in the near-term. We can correctly estimate when the extent of product recall becomes known. However, we believe that this recall will have a minimal ...

Yesterday, Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp. (IART) announced that it purchased almost all the assets of implant maker Innovative Spinal Technologies Inc. through a court approved auction for $9.25 million in cash.  The acquired company, which dealt with spinal implant products focused on minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and motion preservation techniques, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in May 2009. Innovative Spinal Technologies, which generated approximately $2.2 million revenues in 2008, stopped operations in January this year.  The transaction, which is expected to be neutral to Integra's earnings in 2010, significantly expands its portfolio. The acquisition, apart from adding a minimally invasive spinal implant system to the product portfolio, significantly broadens its pipeline.   The Paramount MIS/Open minimally invasive lumbar fusion system, acquired through this transaction, is expected to be launched by Integra in the first quarter of 2010. The Paramount system is designed to allow surgeons ...

Medtronic, Inc. (MDT) has recently warned doctors that approximately 6,300 of the company’s implanted heart devices have battery drainage problem that might reduce the life-span of these batteries. Certain batches of Medtronic’s Concerto and Virtuoso devices manufactured in 2006 are affected with this problem. The company’s share reacted negatively to this news with the price declining roughly 2.8% to $37.90 at the end of Sep 11, 2009. Concerto is a CRT-D (cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator) that enables the lower chambers of the heart to pump blood at the same time. Virtuoso is an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) that takes care of abnormal heart rhythms. The affected batteries might have to be replaced a few months earlier than their normal life-time. The drainage problem has not resulted in any safety problems and there is no risk of a sudden power loss yet. Furthermore, no injuries have been ...

DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Friday September 11, 2009

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AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) and AllianceBernstein L.P. today reported that during the month of August, preliminary assets under management increased by approximately $13 billion, or 2.8%, to $482 billion at August 31, 2009, as positive investment returns were partially offset by modest net outflows.

Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:MRH) announced today that Chris Harris, President & CEO of Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd., is scheduled to present at the Barclays Capital Global Financial Service Conference in New York City on September 16, 2009 at 12:00 pm Eastern Time.

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) CEO Dan Hesse will participate

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 2, 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: International Paper (IP), Mead Westvaco (MWW), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Abbott (ABT) and Medtronic (MDT).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

PMI Shows Expansion

As recently as May, the employment reading was down at 34.3. Yes, the current reading means that we are still losing manufacturing jobs, but at a vastly slower pace than we were just a few months ago. With new orders and production leaping upwards, the first effect

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