INCY – An Immunotherapy Play?

At ASCO this past June, Incyte presented early data from its new Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 (IDO-1) inhibitor project. Their small molecule inhibitor, INCB024360, was tested primarily to determine safety and tolerability; secondary endpoints included PK, biomarkers, and signs of anti-tumor activity. The compound demonstrated a good safety profile among 38 patients, with the maximum tolerated dose […]

INFI – Pivoting From Hedgehog to PI3K

Failed trials can’t hold this stock down. In recent months, the hedgehog pathway inhibitor saridegib (also known as IPI-926) – once the company’s leading pipeline candidate – has crashed out of pancreatic cancer, chondrosarcoma and myelofibrosis trials, but the stock has since broken out to new 52-week highs. Following these disappointments, Infinity has discontinued all […]

ATRS AIS – Antares Pharma’s Overactive Bladder drug: shoulda been named “Can’t-urol”

Antares Pharma $ATRS (formerly $AIS) developed Anturol, a proprietary drug-device combination for overactive bladder (OAB) consisting of a metered-dose pump that dispenses a gel containing the active ingredient oxybutynin. The product was licensed to Watson Pharma $WPI in July 2011, received FDA approval in December 2011, and launched in April 2012 with the brand name […]

ALNY TKMR – Updates on Alnylam and Tekmira

This post will provide a few updates from a number of recent presentations by Alnylam $ALNY (First Quarter 2012 earnings call and conference call regarding ALN-RSV data) and Tekmira $TKMR (First Quarter 2012 earnings), two developers of RNAi technology and therapeutics that are simultaneously partners and bitter opponents in a series of legal battles. My […]

VRTX – Speculating on Vertex

In going through the database, I noticed that Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) has a plethora of upcoming data that is worth mentioning. It’s data on literally the two hottest sectors: rare disease and hepatitis C(HCV). – Viral Kinetic Studies of Two Alios Nucleotides: Seven-day viral kinetic studies of the nucleotide analogues ALS-2200 and ALS-2158 are […]

CBST – An Outlook

Cubist management gave a five-year outlook at their Investor Day presentation on June 11; it was quite impressive. The most notable point was management’s projection of $2 billion in global revenue by the end of 2017- more than double expected 2012 sales. Moreover, Cubist aims to increase non-GAAP operating income to $700 million. Achieving the […]

IDIX – Quick Take on IDX184

Idenix released SVR4 data for its lead drug IDX184 and early 3-day results of the promising NS5A inhibitor IDX719 Tuesday afternoon. Both sets of data looked good, sending IDIX shares soaring in after-hours trading. 31 patients from the first cohort of Idenix’s Phase IIb study were randomized to either 50mg (n=16) or 100mg (n=15) IDX184 […]

INFI – Update on Infinity Pharmaceuticals

For the second time this year, on June 18th, 2012 Infinity Pharma held a conference call to discuss their hedgehog pathway inhibitor drug candidate saridegib (IPI-926). Unfortunately, as in January, the news was not good. After the data monitoring committee stopped the saridegib plus gemcitabine trial in January, Infinity decided to proceed with additional trials in […]

EXEL – Post-ASCO thoughts on Exelixis

This post will be a follow up on what was previously said[link] about Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL) at ASCO 2012. Their key presentations in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) took place on Monday/Tuesday of the conference. Exelixis provided a link to all of their posters and presentations at the conference[link] and held an investor briefing[link]. Cabo for […]

ONXX – Preview of Onyx Pharmaceuticals ODAC

On Monday investors are expecting the FDA’s briefing documents to be posted for Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ONXX) upcoming Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) to review their NDA for Krypolis(Carfilzomib) for the treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma(MM) who have received at least two prior therapies. The ODAC will take place on Wednesday, […]

A Deliberate Walk Down Wall Street – Opinion

The Random Walk Hypothesis first emerged in the 1800s and was popularized in 1973 by Burton Malkiel in his book titled, “A Random Walk Down Wall Street”. This theory asserts that stock prices move randomly and can not be predicted by market participants; any observed cycles are purely due to chance. It is closely linked […]