BioWatch: Amarin Joins Ten-Bagger Chase (AMRN)

Amarin Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRN) just went off the charts, literally.  The company reported very solid Phase III study results this morning and the stock is now up almost tenfold from its lows seen in the last year.  The study met all primary endpoints.  The company’s lead drug candidate is AMR101 and has been tested for the treatment of high triglyceride levels.

The drug aims to lower triglycerides in an aim to cut risk factors in patient risk profiles for developing heart disease.  The results met primary and secondary efficacy endpoints for the 4 gram dose and for the 2 gram dose showing that triglyceride levels decreased 21.5% in the 4 gram dose and 10.1% from the 2 gram dose from baseline versus placebo.  The company also showed that LDL-C decreased at both doses by 6.2% in LDL-C from baseline versus placebo at 4 gram dose.

In short, statin therapy appears to be close to having some new competition on the market.  Equally important was that the safety profile in the study was similar to placebo and similar to MARINE trial results.

The MARINE Phase 3 trial results were announced back in November 2010 and this morning’s move confirms the expectations that a new product will be on the market.

Shares are up a whopping 80% right before the market’s open and we have already crossed over the 10 million share mark before the 9:30 AM EST opening bell.  Shares closed Friday at $8.77 and the prior 52-week range was $1.62 to $9.66.  The reason that the ten-bagger comes into play is that the 80% pre-market gains puts shares up at $15.81.  A move of only $0.40 higher will put Amarin up tenfold from its 52-week lows.

JON C. OGG