Monday is seeing many winners and losers in the healthcare sector on the heels of the health care reform passage in the House of Representatives this weekend. We are focusing solely on the biotech, drug and BioHealth space where actual news is driving the shares mentioned.
We are seeing key moves today in Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC), Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN), MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD), ViroPharma Incorporated (NASDAQ: VPHM), Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOMX), Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA), Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE AMEX: RNN), and Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB).
Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) is still halted, but an FDA Panel at the planned meeting has rejected its Pixantrone in the fight against non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. This closed at $0.91 after a late day drop on Friday going into the weekend. At 1:40 PM EST this resumed and shares were down 67% at $0.30 on over 14 million shares by 1:41 PM EST. At 1:55 PM EST shares are down 50% at $0.45+ on over 45 million shares. Full details of the event and subsequent analysis are here.
Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is continuing its run. In mid-day trading the stock is up 3.5% at $36.25, on what some are calling continued buyout chatter. We will admit that in biotech M&A, anything is possible. But we would also note that this company has faced more FDA hurdles than what may have been fair and any drug company taking this risk on may have a stock where an FDA approval is largely priced in and one where another FDA delay would probably take out a large amount of value versus today’s implied prices and its near-$5 billion market cap.
MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD) did not get the intra-day bull market memo for the market or for biotech. Today’s action may be more on a cautious FDA on an unrelated speculative issue in CTIC rather than on anything inside of the company. Despite a recent delay, last week its CEO said it is still seeking a 2011 Afrezza inhalable insulin launch. We’ll see. In mid-day trading shares are down 7.5% at $6.62 and at 2.65 million shares we have almost seen a full day’s trading volume.
ViroPharma Incorporated (Nasdaq: VPHM) is up after Jefferies raised its price target to $18 from $16 and Oppenheimer raised its price target to $19 from $15… On Friday was the announcement that the presentation of two abstracts covering Cinryze therapy at the First International Congress of the Southern European Allergy Society showed that it was effective. Shares are up 4.9% at $14.12 in mid-day trading.
Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOMX) is up almost 2% at $8.40 in mid-day trading. There is no fresh news and this we covered in-depth this weekend as a stock to watch in our Unusual Suspects for this week. The opportunity for its Silenor is massive if it can capitalize on the sleep-aid drug market.
Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM) has no real fresh news today and despite it trading lower after the open shares are trading up 4.1% at $5.50. As this is a highly volatile and highly controversial stock, we’ll only note that this is probably a trading bounce after last week’s severe drop rather than any benefit from healthcare reform.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) was another one of our Unusual Suspects over the weekend of key stocks to watch. The healthcare reform passage is an obvious win for the huge generics maker, but the momentum is behind this one. We still can’t help but to think this company is seeking a mega-cap status. How many buyers rally continuously after they announce a $5 billion buyout?
Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE AMEX: RNN) rose on a press release that the company announced the Formation of a Parkinson’s Disease scientific advisory board. Shares were up 15% at $1.63 in mid-day trading.
Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was up but not significantly considering the news. The company reached an agreement with Carl Icahn and appointed a third Icahn-backed nominee to its board of directors. This helps it avoid a proxy fight. Shares were up 0.9% at $60.15 late in the day.
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JON C. OGG
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