For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 11, 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: Enzon (ENZN), Merck (MRK), OSI Pharmaceuticals (OSIP), Pfizer (PFE) and Bank of America Corporation (BAC).

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Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Enzon Beats, Announces Sell-off

Enzon (ENZN) achieved break-even earnings during the third quarter of 2009, better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of loss of 7 cents but below the year-ago earnings of 1 cent. The company reported revenues of $44.6 million, a decline of 9% compared to $48.8

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Enzon (ENZN) achieved break-even earnings during the third quarter of 2009, better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of loss of 7 cents but below the year-ago earnings of 1 cent. The company reported revenues of $44.6 million, a decline of 9% compared to $48.8 million reported in the third quarter of 2008. Enzon records revenues from three sources -- products, royalties and contract manufacturing. The three segments recorded a decline of 1%, 6% and 56%, respectively, compared to the year-ago period. Enzon has four marketed products -- Oncaspar for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL); DepoCyt for lymphomatous meningitis; Abelcet for antifungal infection related to cancer and Adagen used to treat severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID), commonly known as the "bubble boy" disease. Apart from Oncaspar, whose sales remained unchanged from the year-ago period, the other three recorded a decline of 4%, 15% and 10%, ...

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) posted a loss of 83 cents per share in the third quarter, 3 cents wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 80 cents. The company posted a loss of 92 cents per share in the year ago period. The wider than expected loss was mainly due to a significant increase in costs and lower revenues.

Revenues declined to $24.9 million in the reported quarter from $31.6 million in the year ago period. Revenues consist of royalty revenues and collaborative and other research and development revenues. Lower revenues were primarily due to a decrease in collaborative revenues.

Expenses increased mainly due to the increased size of the company’s workforce, increased spending on late-stage clinical programs and increased stock-based compensation expenses. Research and development (R&D) expenses increased to $132.1 million, up from $131.7 million in the year-ago period, mainly due to investments supporting the company’s hepatitis C virus

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HGSI: NDA for Albuferon Expected to be Filed This FallWaiting for 2 Phase III Results for BenlystaNDA filing for Albuferon is expected in the fall for Hepatitis C      Albuferon is a novel long-acting form of interferon alpha. Recombinant interferon alpha is approved for the treatment of hepatitis C, hepatitis B and a broad range of cancers. Human Genome Sciences Inc. (HGSI) modified interferon alpha to improve its pharmacological properties by using its albumin fusion technology.HGSI has an exclusive worldwide agreement with Novartis (NVS) for the development and commercialization of Albuferon. The two companies are developing Albuferon as a potential treatment for chronic hepatitis C (HCV). Under this agreement, ...

Achillion Pharma (ACHN) is a promising micro-cap biotech, specializing in the development of new treatments for infectious diseases, such as the multi-billion dollar market for the chronic treatment of hepatitis C. As I recently wrote, several companies in this space have been bought out at huge premiums over the past year – including an astounding premium of over 400% for a $57M buyout by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) of hepatitis C virus [HCV] developer Genelabs (GNLB). Since completing a $41.5M private placement in mid-August (of which $31.1M was already received), Achillion has sufficient liquidity through most of 2010 and is focused on the development of its two pre-clinical HCV compounds, ACH-1095 and ACH-1625. ACH-1095 is part of a 2004 research collaboration with Gilead Sciences (GILD) for which Achillion received $10M upfront and may receive an additional $157M in potential milestone payments ...