Stock investments ranging from Biotech, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices in the Healthcare Sector. Covering Clinical Trial recommendations and FDA Approvals.
Showing posts with label Bristol-Myers Squibb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bristol-Myers Squibb. Show all posts
(Reuters) - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's eagerly anticipated experimental drug ipilimumab extended survival of previously untreated patients with advanced melanoma in a late stage study, the company said.
Details of how much longer patients who were suffering from the deadly skin cancer lived after taking the highly promising Bristol drug will be unveiled at a major medical meeting in June.
Bristol-Myers shares were up 4.3 percent at $27.10 in extended trading from their New York Stock Exchange close at $26. They initially jumped 5.7 percent after news of the clinical trial's success was reported.
Extending overall survival -- the primary goal of the study -- is considered the gold standard for cancer drug trials.
U.S. health regulators are expected to approve ipilimumab this week based on results of a different study of patients who had received prior treatment for advanced melanoma. In that study the Bristol-Myers drug extended survival by an average of four months, which was seen as a major advance for a disease littered with drug failures and for which there are really no effective treatment options.
The Food and Drug Administration in November delayed its approval decision to give it more time to review data on the medicine, setting a new action date of March 26. "Ipilimumab is an exciting drug, especially given the dearth of effective therapies for this bad form of cancer," Sanford Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson said in a research note.Advanced melanoma is one of the deadliest cancers and can quickly spread from the skin to internal organs, such as the brain. Once melanoma spreads to other organs the average survival is typically only six to nine months.
Image via WikipediaBoehringer Beats Bayer, J&J to Market With Pradaxa
By Naomi Kresge and Catherine Larkin
(Adds executive comment from fifth paragraph, closes Bayer shares in the seventh paragraph.)
Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH won U.S. approval to sell Pradaxa, beating drugmakers including Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson to the market with the first rival to the half-century-old blood thinner warfarin.
The Food and Drug Administration cleared the drug for patients with an irregular heartbeat that may raise the risk of a stroke, the agency said yesterday in a statement.
The approval is also expected to trigger a renewed interest in the company that has been looking for a strategic deal, and some analysts expect a deal within three to four months.
Image via Wikipedia Healthcare Sector Breaking News for Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Bristol-Myers Squib to merge with ZymoGenetics
After the bell Tuesday, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and ZymoGenetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZGEN) announced today that the companies have signed a definitive agreement providing for the acquisition of ZymoGenetics by Bristol-Myers Squibb, for $9.75 per share in cash.
Several recent studies of drugs used to treat and prevent strokes appear to favor AstraZeneca's (AZN) Brilinta and Eli-Lilly's (LLY) Effient over Plavix. Plavix, co-marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), is the second best-selling drug in the world.
Marilyn Maldonado is not quite sure why she is at the Memory Enhancement Center in the seaside town of Oakhurst, N.J.
“What are we waiting for?” she asks. About 10 minutes later, she asks again. Then she asks again.
She is waiting to enter a new type of Alzheimer’s drug study that will, in the boldest effort yet, test the leading hypothesis about how to slow or stop this terrifying brain disease.
The disease is defined by freckles of barnacle-like piles of a protein fragment, amyloid beta, in the brain. So, the current thinking goes, if you block amyloid formation or get rid of amyloid accumulations — plaque — and if you start treatment before the disease is well under way, you might have a chance to alter its course.
On Tuesday, that plan got a new push. The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association proposed new guidelines for diagnosis to find signs of Alzheimer’s in people who do not yet have severe symptoms, or even any symptoms at all.
This was shockingly huge news yesterday as Medarex went from 8 to 16 points in a matter of an instant. Do regular people say points or dollars. Nonetheless. This was front page of CBS MarketWatch last night.
July 22, 2009, 7:54 p.m. EST Bristol-Myers to buy Medarex for $16 a share cash Deal values Medarex at almost double its Wednesday close
This happened last night during aftermarket hours but it happened so fast I don't know how anyone who hadn't purchased it that afternoon could have gotten in on that one. It is exciting to see these kinds of things and you wish you could have some forewarning and there probably was but I just hadn't heard about it. Anyways, MED fizzled out at 15.87 and well they're getting bought for 16 so unless you are buying Bristol Stock, or you wish to, good luck with that one. Anyways, they do have a few good things in the pipeline and that is good for Bristol. There have been so many mergers that I guess I need to get more research on the merger deals. Unfortunately most of that info comes real close to insider trading and you know how Wall St frowns on all of that. Thanks Martha Stewart!!!
So Lets Talk Mergers Why Don't We.
Oh there's the whole Merck-Schering deal. Roche-Genentech, oh that one was bruttle wasn't it. Wyeth and Pfizer Ahhh wasn't that so nice and sweet, for Pfizer maybe but I think it was dumb. Most of these are. Just the big fish feeding on down the food chain and getting rid of hardworking people in the Biopharma industry. All in the name of a buck. Hey I need money too but it gets a little old after working in the industry for awhile, constantly getting bought out and name changes and new corporate bull.
That brings me to my little company's ordeal that I used to work for. Covance to Akzo Nobel to Organon Biosciences to umm what the hell, to Schering Plough To Merck. I mean how many times does one place have to change the sign out front. Seriously can't be a good environment when all that is happening. But many stay with mergers, many leave, many quit, and many are fired or laid off or whatever to generate more profits for the big fish. I also went through this when Bayer sold their plant to some Venture capitalist firm and called it Talecris. But just recently Talecris was getting bought by an Australian firm and that deal was blocked by the SEC earlier this year. So who knows anymore. There is little stability in the biotech industry when it comes to small companies. Eventually no matter how promising they all sell out and spend the rest of their days on the coast of France while the rest of the workers are generally screwed.
Aghhhh, biotech and its turnover can get rough when companies are constantly buying and selling each other out. Its bruttle out there sometimes and you have to decide what you really want out of life and how much do you like the flourescent lighting in the labs. Anyways, got a little off topic here.
Point was, I will work on more merger deals here as they can make or break your portolio sometimes.
This was from BioHealth Investor. Maybe my future rival but I hope maybe we could team up someday as I own invest-biohealth.com. I am still working on that website along with biopharmainvestor.com too.
Bristol picks up multiple potential gems with a Medarex deal (BMY, MEDX, ABT, JNJ, AMGN, WYE) July 23, 2009
Bristol Myers Inc. (NYSE: BMY) plans to spend $2.4 billion to buy partner Medarex Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDX), and it’s getting more than just the cancer monoclonal antibody that developed together.
There are other potential gems in the Medarex pipeline.
The monoclonal antibody ipilimumab is by far the main reason that Bristol pulled the trigger. It is currently in Phase III trials for both metastatic melanoma and hormone-refractory prostate cancer.
Last month, the U.K.’s Independent reported that patients that took a single does of ipilimumab in a trial obliterated the prostate cancer. The paper called the research a “shock breakthrough”. Researchers took the unusual step of releasing case details ahead of the drug trial in which the patients took part, mostly because the recovery of those patients was so surprising. One metastatic patient apparently had a tumor the size of a golf ball. It shrank enough to be surgically removed and the patient made a full recovery.
There could be no bigger potential cancer market for a monoclonal antibody than prostate cancer. It is the largest potential cancer market with 192,280 cases diagnosed each year, according to the National Cancer Institute — more new cases than even breast cancer.
With ipilimumab, Bristol has picked up a candidate that has the potential to become a drug in not only advanced prostate cancer, but also non small-cell lung cancer and melanoma.
The other potential products in the Medarex pipeline that show promise include MDX-1106, a fully human IgG4 antibody in patients with refractory solid tumors including non-small cell lung cancer, colon cancer, melanoma, or prostate cancer. It’s in early stage trials, but so far has shown anti-tumor activity. In the future, it may be something that Bristol tests as a combination therapy along with ipilimumab.
One additional big candidate that Bristol would own if the deal gets shareholder approval would be MDX-1100, which recently went through a Phase II study in rheumatoid arthritis. The drug met its primary endpoint; full data is expected later this year.
While rheumatoid arthritis is a crowded market with market leader Humira from Abbott Laboratories Inc. (NYSE: ABT) Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE: JNJ) Remicade and Amgen Inc. (NYSE: AMGN) and Wyeth’s (NYSE: WYE) Enbrel, there is promise with any new arthritis drug that shows safety and efficacy. The CDC projects that the number of people age 65 or older who have arthritis or chronic joint symptoms will nearly double from 21.4 million in 2001 to 41.4 million in 2030, as more people are living longer.
Shareholders may balk at the high price Bristol plans to pay for Medarex. But there are likely to be few questions about the strength of the Medarex pipeline, or that Bristol Myers is the natural acquirer given the strength of their partnership. — Mike Tarsala
If you're out there Biohealth investor, I like your site and would like to introduce myself as biopharma investor. Anyways.
Image via WikipediaGEN | News Highlights:Firms Report Promising Data for Type 1 and 2 Diabetes Candidates at 71st Annual ADA Meeting
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