Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) reported third quarter earnings of 28 cents per share, well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 22 cents as well as 21 cents reported in the year-ago period. The company, along with Bayer AG (BAYRY.PK), developed Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets, an anticancer therapy currently approved and marketed for the treatment of liver cancer and advanced kidney cancer in the US, European Union, Japan and some other countries. Onyx’s earnings come in the form of royalty and collaboration income on Nexavar sales.  For the quarter, Onyx reported revenues of $69.1 million compared to $50.8 million for the same period in 2008 primarily due to an increase in Nexavar sales and royalty revenue and a decline in the drug’s commercial expenses. While revenues increased 36%, a 43.6% rise in operating expenses brought down Onyx’s operating margin by 450 basis points to 14.5%. R&D and SG&A expenses increased ...

Recently, Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) announced that it will purchase privately held cancer drugmaker Proteolix for an upfront cash payment of $276 million. This transaction gives Onyx access to Proteolix's lead compound, carfilzomib, a mid-stage multiple myeloma drug. Apart from the upfront cash payment, Onyx, which currently sells the liver and kidney cancer drug Nexavar along with Bayer AG, is also liable to pay $40 million in 2010 if carfilzomib achieves a development milestone and up to $535 million depending on the achievement of certain regulatory approvals for carfilzomib in the U.S. and Europe.  That is inclusive of a payment of $170 million if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decides to conduct a fast review of the drug. The all-cash transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. As a reminder, carfilzomib is currently undergoing a phase II b trial (n=250) in ...

In a positive development, Bayer (BAYRY.PK) released encouraging results from a phase II trial of regorafenib in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a type of kidney cancer. The phase II trial was carried out on 49 previously untreated patients whose tumors could not be removed surgically or had started spreading. The trial met its primary endpoint, which was to evaluate response rate according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST). It was observed that 31% of patients experienced a confirmed partial response (PR) whereas 50% of patients experienced stable disease (SD). In addition, the data showed an estimated median progression-free survival of 8.3 months. The data were presented in an oral session at the joint 15th Congress of the European CanCer Organisation and 34th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ECCO 15 - 34th ESMO) at ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 8, 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: General Motors Corp. (GM), Durect Corp. (DRRX), Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP), Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) and Supertex Inc. (SUPX).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Thursday's Analyst Blog:

GM Reports - Is Bankruptcy Near?

General Motors Corp. (GM) posted a reported net loss of $6.0 billion, including special items, or $9.78 per share in the first quarter of 2009. This compares with a reported net loss of $3.3 billion, or $5.80

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Nexavar sales continued to grow in 1Q09 despite turbulent economic conditions; financial position is strongOn May 6, 2009, Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) reported 1Q09 earnings. Despite the turbulent economic conditions, worldwide Nexavar sales still increased by 17% to $178.1 million in 1Q09, compared to $151.9 million in 1Q08. Much of the growth was driven by its ex-US sales increase, which reached $130 million, up 29% year over year. US Nexavar sales were $48 million, down 6% year over year.Both the US sales and ex-US sales fell short of our expectations. International sales continued to outgrow the US sales. We believe the trend will continue in the coming quarters.According to the management from the conference call, growth was mainly due to the label expansion into its liver cancer indication. In spite of heavy competition in the kidney cancer market, Nexavar's market share ...

Ardea Biosciences' balance sheet gets boosted by Bayer partnershipEarly this morning in a news release, Ardea Biosciences, Inc. (RDEA) announced that it has entered into a global agreement with Bayer HealthCare (BAYRY) to develop Ardea's small molecule mitogen-activated ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitors for the treatment of cancer or other indications. The current focus will be on cancers.Pursuant to the agreement, Ardea will grant Bayer a worldwide, exclusive license to develop and commercialize Ardea's MEK inhibitors for all indications. The agreement is valued at $407 million, not including royalties. This amount includes an upfront cash payment to Ardea of $35 million, as well as additional cash payments upon achievement of certain development, regulatory and sales-based milestones. Ardea is also eligible to receive low double-digit royalties on sales of products under the agreement.The lead compound in this program is RDEA119, which is currently ...

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ONXX) is engaged in the development of novel cancer therapies that target the molecular basis of cancer. With its collaborator Bayer Healthcare, the company develops the small molecule drug Nexavar (sorafenib).

Nexavar sales in the third qurater of 2008 remained strong. This is mainly attributed to the market penetration in the liver cancer market, while Nexavar market share in kidney cancer market has stabilized due to heavy competition from Pfizer and Wyeth.

We expect continued Nexavar sales growth in 4Q08 and over the next several years since the label has expanded to liver cancer. In addition to the U.S. and E.U., Nexavar has been approved in South Korea and China for liver cancer. Nexavar has the potential to become a blockbuster. We maintain our Buy rating on Onyx shares with a price target of $45 per shares. "ONXX" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?

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