Alcon (ACL) is delivering solid growth across all business segments and pays a dividend yield of 2.3%.

Company Description

Alcon is one of the world's leading suppliers of eye care products. The company has three operating segments: Pharmaceutical, which develops glaucoma products, ocular anti-infectives, and ocular allergy products, Surgical, which serves cataract market with its Infiniti vision system and AcrySof intraocular lenses, and Consumer Eye Care, which sells contact lens care products, artificial tears, and ocular vitamins.

Growth Story

Alcon's pharmaceutical and surgical segments continue to deliver steady revenue growth. In the fourth quarter, U.S. sales were up 10% thanks to improving demand for prescriptions and cataract procedures. International organic sales, driven by emerging markets, were up 7%.

In addition, Alcon's acquisition strategy should help drive long-term growth. The company continues to look for acquisitions that will expand its markets and its drug pipeline.

Alcon is also working to build out

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Novartis AG (NVS) recently published full results on its oral multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy FTY720 (fingolimod) in the New England Journal of Medicine. These results were from two pivotal phase III studies, TRANSFORMS and FREEDOMS, which demonstrated that FTY720 reduced the risk of confirmed disability progression.   Novartis had initially announced results from these studies in Sep 2009. Combined data from the studies showed significant efficacy in reducing relapses, disability progression and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesions in MS.   The one-year TRANSFORMS study showed that the 0.5 mg and 1.25 mg dosages of FTY720 reduced relapses by 52% and 38%, respectively, compared to interferon beta-1a − Biogen Idec’s (BIIB) Avonex. The two-year FREEDOMS study showed a 54% and 60% reduction in the relapse rate for the 0.5 mg and 1.25 mg dosages, respectively, compared to placebo.   The FTY720 0.5 mg dose was shown to reduce the

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Eye care company Alcon, Inc. (ACL) announced that its Independent Director Committee recently responded to Novartis AG’s (NVS) proposal to acquire its minority publicly traded shares. The Committee referred to the proposal as “grossly inadequate" and “fundamentally flawed".   Earlier this month, Novartis had announced that it intends to gain full ownership of Alcon. Novartis will initially complete its April 2008 agreement with Nestlé S.A. whereby it will acquire a majority stake (77%) in Alcon. Of this, the company has already acquired a 25% stake in 2008 for $10.4 billion.   Novartis will be paying $28.1 billion for Nestlé’s remaining 52% stake in Alcon. Once this deal is completed in the second half of the year, Novartis is planning to acquire the remaining 23% minority stake. Each Alcon share will receive 2.8 shares of Novartis.   As of January 19, 2010, the proposal is valued at $151.43 ...

Recently, Novartis (NVS) entered into a collaboration with GenVec (GNVC) for the development of treatments for hearing loss and balance disorders. Earlier, preclinical results have found strong potential in GenVec's adenovector technology for the restoration of hearing and balance functions.

Per the agreement, Novartis has acquired worldwide rights to the program, for which it has paid $5 million upfront. GenVec is also eligible to receive up to $213.6 million in the form of milestone payments and royalties on the sale of the drug. In addition, Novartis has purchased shares of GenVec worth $2 million. It will also provide funding to GenVec for conducting research programs for the development of additional adenovectors for hearing loss.

Novartis is looking at strengthening its pipeline to compensate for the loss of revenues once several of its products start facing generic competition. Earlier this month, the company announced its intention to gain full ownership of

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Recently, Novartis (NVS) launched Fanapt (iloperidone) in the U.S. Its twice daily tablets are for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults. Fanapt received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2009.

Clinical trials have shown that Fanapt improved symptoms in schizophrenic patients compared to a placebo therapy. The most common adverse drug reactions were dizziness, dry mouth, fatigue, nasal congestion, orthostatic hypotension, somnolence, tachycardia and weight gain.

Under an agreement with Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA), Novartis acquired exclusive commercialization rights to Fanapt in the U.S. and Canada in October 2009. In addition, Novartis has the rights to develop and commercialize an injectable form of the drug for these markets. Vanda will receive an upfront payment of $200 million as well as the potential to receive milestone payments of up to $265 million. Vanda also will receive royalties on the US and Canadian net sales of Fanapt.

In December

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Novartis (NVS) has recently announced that it intends to gain full ownership of eye care company Alcon Inc. (ACL). Novartis will first complete its April 2008 agreement with Nestlé S.A. whereby it will acquire a majority stake (77%) in Alcon. Of this, Novartis acquired a 25% stake in Alcon in 2008 for $10.4 billion.   Novartis will be paying $28.1 billion for Nestlé’s remaining 52% stake in Alcon. Once this deal is completed in the second half of the year, Novartis is planning to acquire the remaining 23% minority stake in Alcon. Each Alcon share will receive 2.8 shares of Novartis.   Novartis intends to fund its acquisition of the 52% stake in Alcon through available funds and external financing. Novartis’ outlay for acquiring a 77% stake in Alcon comes to about $38.5 billion.   With both Alcon and Novartis possessing complementary eye care product portfolios, this deal

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AstraZeneca (AZN) received a positive opinion from the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee (EMDAC) regarding the expanded use of Crestor. AstraZeneca is seeking approval for Crestor to treat patients with normal cholesterol levels but having other risks of heart disease. The committee voted 12-4 in favor of Crestor after analyzing its benefit against possible risk in some patients. However, the committee was concerned that Crestor should not be used at random in patients with low risk.

Following the recommendation, AstraZeneca has moved one step closer to FDA approval. Although the FDA is not required to follow the committee’s opinion, it generally does so.

The panel’s recommendation was based on data presented from the JUPITER (Justification for the Use of statins in Prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin) study conducted with 18,000 patients. It was observed that Crestor lowered deaths, heart attacks and strokes in middle-aged people

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 23, 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: Moody’s Investor Service (MCO), Alcoa (AA), Incyte (INCY), Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novartis (NVS).

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:

Moody’s May Downgrade Alcoa

Reportedly, credit rating agency, Moody’s Investor Service (MCO) has placed Alcoa’s (AA) senior unsecured debt under review for a possible downgrade, after the U.S. aluminum giant announced it would be spending $900 million in a joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Co. to

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It’s raining good news for Incyte (INCY), which entered into a deal with Eli Lilly (LLY) regarding one of its pipeline candidates. The two companies have entered into a worldwide license and collaboration agreement related to the development and commercialization of Incyte's oral JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor, INCB28050, and certain other follow on drugs for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. INCB28050 is currently being studied in a phase II trial for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). As per the agreement, while Lilly will receive worldwide rights to the compound, Incyte has retained its co-development and co-promotion rights. Under the deal, Incyte will receive an initial payment of $90 million as well as another $665 million in the form of milestone payments. In addition, the company is also eligible to receive tiered, double-digit royalty payments on global sales of the drug on successful commercialization. Following the transaction, Lilly’s fourth ...

It’s raining good news for Incyte (INCY), which entered into a deal with Eli Lilly (LLY) regarding one of its pipeline candidates. The two companies have entered into a worldwide license and collaboration agreement related to the development and commercialization of Incyte's oral JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor, INCB28050, and certain other follow on drugs for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. INCB28050 is currently being studied in a phase II trial for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). As per the agreement, while Lilly will receive worldwide rights to the compound, Incyte has retained its co-development and co-promotion rights. Under the deal, Incyte will receive an initial payment of $90 million as well as another $665 million in the form of milestone payments. In addition, the company is also eligible to receive tiered, double-digit royalty payments on global sales of the drug on successful commercialization. Following the transaction, Lilly’s fourth ...