Recent News Concerning HPV in Men, HPV is now linked to causing Throat Cancer

Throat Cancer Linked to HPV
By LAURA LANDRO

A sharp rise in a type of throat cancer among men is increasingly being linked to HPV, the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus that can cause cervical cancer in women.

A new study from the National Cancer Institute warns that if recent trends continue, the number of HPV-positive oral cancers among men could rise by nearly 30% by 2020. At that rate, it could surpass that of cervical cancers among women, which are expected to decline as a result of better screening.

The study is to be presented this week at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting.

Between 1988 and 2004, the researchers found, the incidence of HPV-positive oropharynx cancers—those that affect the back of the tongue and tonsil area—increased by 225%. Anil Chaturvedi, a National Cancer Institute investigator who led the research, estimates there were approximately 6,700 cases of HPV-positive oropharynx cancers in 2010, up from 4,000 to 4,500 in 2004, and cases are projected to increase 27% to 8,500 in 2020. 

Find out more about HPV  Currently, Merck markets the vaccine Gardisil

Top BioHealth Investor Calls of the Month

Top BioHealth Research Calls of the Week (MNKD, PDLI, ILMN, CLDA, MRK, PFE, LLY, BMY, ALXN, SVNT, AMGN)

January 22, 2011 · Filed Under Financial, analyst calls, fda · Comment 

There were some key research calls in biotech and biohealth shares this week.  Over in our “top five analyst calls of the week” at 24/7 Wall Street we noted how one firm came out in defense of MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) on its implosion this week and another call was highlighting the potential upside value that remains in PDL BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDLI) despite its patent fight concerns.  There were many other standout calls though in analyst coverage this last week in biohealth:

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) has remained impressive after having been one of our “Best of Big BioHealth in 2010″ and was also at the start of the year listed as “an overvalued biohealth names with peers.” This week brought an analyst duel.  Citigroup raised its rating to BUY from Hold and the new price target is $85.00 per share.  Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $66.87 and the Citi target appears to be the street-high price target.  Elsewhere, RBC Capital Markets lowered the rating to Sector Perform from Outperform due to valuation.  Illumina’s 52-week range is $34.25 to $71.07, and at $68.75 it has a market cap now of $8.6 billion.

Clinical Data Inc. (NASDAQ: CLDA) will be one to watch this coming week after the FDA approved its antidepressant drug to be sold under the brand name Viibyrd.  Shares closed at $15.03 on Friday but were much higher after the news and the 52-week trading range is $10.87 to $22.39.  What is interesting is that analysts already see peak sales above $2 billion as this antidepressant is believed to not interfere with sexual desire as much as in some rival drugs. The consensus price target is already $29.67 per Thomson Reuters data.

This week came a standout call in Big Pharma from Wells Fargo as the firm raised the sector to “Overweight.”  Wells Fargo raised Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) to Outperform ratings and also noted Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) in the call.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) closed the week out at $84.43 and has a 52-week range of $44.86 to $87.14.  There was an analyst duel this week.  Gleacher & Co. raised its rating to Buy while UBS cut its rating to Hold.

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT) hit new 52-week lows this last week and closed at $10.20 versus a 52-week range of $10.16 to $23.46.  Its shares were downgraded to “Underperform” over at Bank of America Merrill Lynch after previous news in its business update of reports of batch failures with its new gout medication called Krystexxa.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) is set to report earnings on Monday and Thomson Reuters has estimates of $1.10 EPS and $3.8 billion in revenues; for the next quarter estimates are $1.31 EPS and $3.67 billion in revenues. At $56.97 shares are actually down slightly from 90-days ago and the 52-week range is $50.26 to $61.26.  This stock is getting toward its higher end of a 3 year trading band, so we expect that analyst will have to make some adjustments after earnings.  Thomson Reuters has an average price target above $65.00 currently.

At the end of December, we gave a list of Big Biotechs With the Most Upside in 2011.

Top BioPharma Pipeline Plays August 2010

Image via CrunchBase Stocks currently on my Watchlist for top BioPharma plays in the near future.

1. Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX)

Biotechnology Research Report on Valeant's Potiga

On August 11, 2010, we expect the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee to review the marketing application of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International’s (VRX) Potiga (formerly known as Retigabine), designed for the treatment of partial-onset seizures in epilepsy patients who have become refractory (failing to show response to prior therapy) to anti-epilepsy drugs (AEDs).