Stocks and Sectors

By Rod Raynovich:

Early Player in Molecular Biomarkers for Cancer Gets A Boost

RGDX Up 31% to $1.55 on Volume of 114k Shares

Response Genetics (RGDX) announced today that it has entered purchase agreements with private investors including current holders to raise more than $7.8M with placement of 5.3M unregistered shares of common stock at a price of $1.50. Board members and management participated in the offering. Institutions are still major holders, about 33% of the outstanding shares with little change over the past year but we will see the recent Q4 2011 positions disclosure in about 30 days.With 5.3M newly issued shares added to the 19.5M outstanding gives RGDX a market cap of about $38M.Up to now share trading volume has been low to non-existent due to lack of news and a low stock price.

Third Quarter Revenues were $5.1M, a decrease of 9% over the same period of the prior year.

Complete Story »

By Scott Matusow:

Pfizer (PFE) recently announced the voluntary recall 1 million packs of its oral contraceptive pill, Lo/Ovral 28 (norgestrel and ethinyl estradiol), including 500,000 packs of the generic version of the product. The recall, conducted in the US with the knowledge of the FDA, was due to packaging issues.

What this boils down to is the machines that make the drug messed up the ingredient mixture. Some pills have way too much norgestrel and ethinyl, while others do not have enough of the active ingredient that blocks ovulation.

What it means for women who ingested the packs:

Unwanted pregnancies with women who ingested the placebo type packs is a given. This is certainly is not the worst outcome for some women, but for others, it can be a nightmare after coming to the stark realization the pills they have been taking did not work.

What it means for Pfizer:

In terms

Complete Story »

By Helix Investment Management:

When a biotechnology company receives approval for a new drug, that is almost always a catalyst for a huge rally in that company’s stock price. And Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) is no exception.

On January 27, the FDA announced that it had approved Bydureon, the first weekly diabetes pill for sale in the United States. Amylin’s stock has soared on news of the approval, gaining almost 49% over the last 5 days alone.

While this is an impressive rally, and we congratulate investors who bought the stock in the previous few days, it is important to keep the rally in context. Over the past 5 years, the stock has lost over half its value, as numerous delays in Bydureon approval and partnership changes have dimmed investor enthusiasm for the stock.

We think that there are many better opportunities right now in the biotech space relative to Amylin, and caution investors not

Complete Story »

By Joshua Hayes:

The overall stock market continues to be in a solid uptrend with multiple stocks across multiple sectors leading the way higher. The best industry group during this current uptrend, based on Relative Strength to the SP 500, has been the Medical-Biomed/Biotech group.

Quite a few stocks have done very well in this sector during this current uptrend. Two stocks stand out in this group as real leaders that have the potential to become long-term winners once this current uptrend has passed.

Let’s take a look at Viropharma Inc. (VPHM) and Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) and go into the key fundamentals that should allow these companies to continue to grow for many future market cycles.

Viropharma Inc. is an Exton, PA developer of products for the treatment of hereditary angioedema and clostridium difficile infection (CDI).

Viropharma Inc. has increased it EPS the past eight quarters quite impressively, growing 286%, 167%, 38%, 68%,

Complete Story »

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX)

Q4 2011 Earnings Call

February 2, 2012 5:00 PM ET

Executives