Diet Pill Maker Arena Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARNA) Wins Backing of FDA Advisers

Orlando, FL 5/11/12 (StreetBeat) -- In a stunning turn of events in less than two years, diet pill maker Arena Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARNA) won the backing of a panel of government advisers to sell what may be the first new weight-loss treatment in the US in more than a decade. The company’s shares rose 80% in early trading Friday after advisers voted 18-4 in favor of approving Arena’s drug, lorcaserin.

Arena is the second company to win such an endorsement for a diet drug this year after Vivus (Nasdaq: VVUS) was recommended by Food and Drug Administration advisers in February. The FDA delayed a decision on Vivus’ Qnexa, moving a potential approval date later than one set for Arena. If the FDA doesn’t adjust its dates, it will decide on Arena’s drug, lorcaserin, by June 27, and on Vivus’ Qnexa by July 17.

After a pair of overwhelmingly positive panel recommendations from advisers, it’s beginning to look like there may be two near-term approvals for diet drugs. That seemed unthinkable a little more than a year ago after Orexigen Therapeutics (Nasdaq: OREX) followed Arena and Vivus in being rejected by the US agency because of safety concerns.

Shares of Arena rose to $6.59 in morning trading. Vivus was up 4% to $23.57 and Orexigen, which is the farthest away from any potential approval, jumped 7% to $3.57.

Safety has been the killer for these new diet pills. The FDA is very cautious about approving another product that could pose health risks to people taking them. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) withdrew its drug Meridia from the market in 2010 after fears of heart attack and stroke. The drug cocktail fen phen was withdrawn from the market in 1997 after evidence of heart valve damage. Those drugs were sold by American Home Products, which was later renamed Wyeth and is now part of Pfizer (NYSE: PFE).

In April, Vivus said the FDA was extending its deadline for an approval ruling on Qnexa because the agency needed more time to review a company plan on mitigating risks for patients. Arena, which is partnered with Japanese drug maker Eisai to sell lorcaserin, has responded to FDA worries about safety, including heart valve problems. However, Arena hasn’t yet discussed a risk plan -- a so-called a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy -- or a post-approval safety study with the FDA, company executives said on a conference call Friday. Eisai would pay 90% of any post-approval safety analysis. No decision has been made yet on a price for the pill.

Arena, Vivus and Orexigen argue that obesity is an epidemic in the US, leading to health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and other conditions.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) Races to Reinvent Itself

Orlando, FL 5/2/12 (StreetBeat) -- For years, drug companies have known that their days of plenty were numbered, that the moment would arrive when the best-selling drugs that had driven two decades’ worth of profits would lose their patent protection and succumb to competition from generic alternatives. Without new blockbusters to replace them, profits would tumble.

For Pfizer, that day has arrived. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) profited from hits like Lipitor and Viagra, and swallowed up smaller companies from the 1990s onward.

But it has no immediate successor to Lipitor, the best-selling drug in history, which lost patent protection last fall. The problem was punctuated on Tuesday when the company said that profit declined 19 percent last quarter, largely because of declines in Lipitor sales.

Pfizer — once the Big in Big Pharma — is making a radical shift, one being watched closely by the rest of the industry. It is getting smaller.

Last week the company announced it was selling its infant nutrition business to Nestlé for $11.85 billion, and it is expected to divest its profitable animal health business by next year. At the same time, the company is slashing as much as 30 percent of its research budget as part of a plan to focus on only the most promising areas, like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

“It’s not necessarily smaller per se, it’s focused,” Ian C. Read, Pfizer’s chief executive, said in an interview Tuesday. “We are at our heart a biopharmaceutical company focused on applying science to improving people’s quality of life. That is what our core is. That is what will determine our success.”

Pfizer is one of many pharmaceutical companies racing to reinvent itself. This year alone, at least 19 drugs — including the antistroke drug Plavix — are scheduled to lose patent protection, a potential $38.5 billion in lost sales, according to an analysis by Barclays (NYSE: BCS).

Drug executives are asking themselves: “What is it that we now face, given that in the past decade — when everything was going right — we didn’t build with this future in mind?” said Jeremy Levin, who oversaw a similar reorganization of Bristol-Myers Squibb and is about to take over as chief executive at Teva Pharmaceuticals.

At Pfizer, skeptics have questioned the decision to shed some of its most profitable units in favor of doubling down on the risky pharmaceutical business. Pfizer’s nutrition unit grew by 15 percent and animal health by 17 percent in 2011, while its pharmaceutical sales dipped by 1 percent. And Pfizer has suffered some notable flops over the last several years, including the failure of an experimental cholesterol treatment that was seen as a potential successor to Lipitor and poor sales of an inhaled insulin drug that the company eventually abandoned.

“It’s a high-risk plan,” said Erik M. Gordon, who teaches business at the University of Michigan. “They’re focusing on what they don’t have the best track record in and they’re spinning off things that are doing pretty well.”

Pfizer spent the last decade buying other big companies. In 2000, it acquired Warner Lambert and with it the rights to Lipitor, which Pfizer had been co-marketing with the company. In 2003, it merged with Pharmacia and added the painkiller Celebrex to its lineup. It acquired Wyeth in 2009 in a $68 billion deal that brought a portfolio of biologic drugs. Last year, Pfizer bought King Pharmaceuticals, a maker of pain drugs.

The acquisitions, some said, turned Pfizer into a Frankenstein’s monster — a giant stitched together from the scraps of smaller companies that lurched forward with little purpose.

“I think the company sort of lost their way in the years before the Wyeth acquisition,” said Catherine J. Arnold, an analyst for Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS).

Mr. Read said he agreed. “I think it was broken — I think we were spending huge amounts of money,” said Mr. Read, who took over as chief executive in late 2010 after Jeffrey B. Kindler resigned abruptly. “We weren’t producing the drugs we needed and frankly that was seen in the marketplace.”

Analysts said Pfizer’s nutrition deal and the divestiture of the animal health business is a way to tide over shareholders while it undertakes more substantial changes to its business model. The company has said it plans to use most of the cash from the deals to buy back stock, though studies have repeatedly cast doubt on the efficacy of such moves by corporations.

Pfizer said Tuesday that it had repurchased $1.7 billion in stock in the first quarter, and expects to buy back about $5 billion by the end of the year. The company reported earnings of $1.79 billion last quarter, or 24 cents a share, compared to $2.22 billion, or 28 cents a share over the same period last year.

Investors seem to be buying into the company’s strategy so far: Pfizer stock has risen nearly 8 percent over the last year. Pfizer’s stock closed at $22.78 on Tuesday, down 12 cents, or less than 1 percent.

Even so, the company’s decision to cut research budgets as it is planning to recommit to its pharmaceutical core struck some as risky. Mr. Gordon, the Michigan business professor, called it a “magic trick.”

It’s a magic trick, however, that most major pharmaceutical companies are also trying. “The question is how do you remain successful and sustain your operations if you’re investing less and less in R&D?” said Kenneth I. Kaitin, a professor and director of Tufts University’s Center for the Study of Drug Development. “The answer to that is to try to find a new way and a more efficient mechanism for discovering and developing drugs.”

Pfizer plans to reduce its research budget from $9.4 billion in 2010 to $6.5 billion to $7 billion this year. It closed a research center in Britain and has been trimming its facility in Groton, Conn., and moving resources to areas closer to universities in Boston and Cambridge, England.

In 2011, the company ended 91 projects, canceling programs aimed at treating bladder infection, for example, as well as one to treat nasal symptoms from allergies. Company executives have also said they will be on the lookout for smaller acquisitions to fill gaps in their portfolio, and will expand partnerships with academic institutions.

Mr. Read said the cuts would not affect the areas that the company has prioritized. “Most of what I cut had a low probability of success,” he said.

While Pfizer does not have another Lipitor, analysts say several drugs seem promising. On May 9, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel is to consider recommending approval of an oral pill for rheumatoid arthritis. In June, the agency is expected to weigh approval of Eliquis, an antistroke drug that Pfizer is developing with Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY).

In corporate strategy, Pfizer is following the path of Bristol-Myers, which in 2009 announced plans to spin off the nutrition company Mead Johnson to focus on acquiring small biotech companies. The company has since fared well despite the loss of patent protection for Plavix on May 17. “So long as the blockbuster game was working, people kept playing it,” Mr. Gordon said.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Nestle (Pinksheets: NSRGY) in $11.85 billion deal to acquire Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) infant-nutrition business

St. Augustine, FL (StreetBeat) 4/23/12 -- Swiss food and drink giant Nestle SA (Pinksheets: NSRGY) announced a deal Monday to acquire Pfizer Inc.'s (NYSE: PFE) infant-nutrition business for $11.85 billion in a bid to boost sales in emerging markets.

The company based in Vevey, Switzerland said the acquisition would "enhance its position in global infant nutrition" because 85 percent of the Pfizer Nutrition unit's sales is in emerging markets, many of which have large, fast-growing populations.

The deal would particularly help Nestle to boost growth in China and maintain its position as one of the world's largest sellers of infant formula. It is subject to regulatory approval, however, and Nestle, since it already sells so much infant formula, may face some antitrust hurdles to complete the deal.

Nestle's shares fell 3 percent to 55.30 Swiss francs ($60.71) after the Zurich exchange opened.

The maker of Nescafe, Haagen Dazs and Jenny Craig said it estimated that the Pfizer unit's 2012 sales would bring $2.4 billion.

"Infant nutrition has been at the heart of our company since it was founded in 1866," Nestle CEO Paul Bulcke said in a statement. "Pfizer Nutrition is an excellent strategic fit and this acquisition underlines our commitment to be the world's leading nutrition, health and wellness company."

Nestle's offer beat a rival joint bid by Groupe Danone (Pinksheets: DANOY) and Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (NYSE: MJN) for the infant-nutrition business, which Pfizer had put up for sale last July along with a separate animal-health business unit.

Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker, has been shedding its noncore businesses as it moves to focus on developing new prescription drugs. Last year it suffered the patent expiry of blockbuster drug Lipitor, the cholesterol fighter.

It also sold its business unit that makes drugs in capsule forms to KKR & Co. last August for $2.4 billion.

Nestle forecast Friday that 2012 will be a challenging year but reported that first-quarter sales rose a healthy 5.6 percent from a year earlier, fueled by strong growth in emerging markets and higher retail prices.

"The takeover affirms Nestle's worldwide No. 1 position in one of the most attractive growth markets," said bank analyst Patrik Schwendimann of Zuercher Kantonalbank. "One positive side effect is that speculation about large acquisitions by Nestle will calm down for the foreseeable future."

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Vertex Pharmaceutical's (Nasdaq: VRTX) drug approved to treat cystic fibrosis' root cause

Northern, WI 1/31/12 (StreetBeat) -- The first drug that treats the root cause of cystic fibrosis won approval Tuesday, offering a life-changing treatment for a handful of patients with the deadly illness and broader hope for thousands more patients with the inherited disease.

About 30,000 Americans live with cystic fibrosis, a disease that causes sticky mucus buildup in the lungs and other organs, leading to infections, digestive problems and death in young adulthood. The typical life expectancy is about 37 years, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The Food and Drug approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s (Nasdaq: VRTX) Kalydeco to improve lung function and reduce other symptoms in patients with a rare variant of the disease that affects just 1,200 people in the U.S., about 4 percent of affected population nationwide. These patients have a protein defect that prevents their cells from properly absorbing and excreting salt and water.

"Even though this drug isn't for the majority of people, it proves that you can look at the mistake in the genes and design a drug in a rational way that will fix the problem," said Dr. Drucy Borowitz of the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she directs the cystic fibrosis program.

Kalydeco is among the first drugs designed to a correct a specific genetic defect. Its development characterizes both the promise and challenges of that approach. Scientists first identified the gene that causes cystic fibrosis in 1989, but it took more than two decades and more than $75 million in outside funding to develop a drug to treat the disease.

Borowitz enrolled several of her patients in the key study for Kalydeco, which showed that patients taking the drug increased their lung strength more than 10 percent when compared with patients taking a placebo. Patients also had fewer infections and gained nearly seven pounds on average, a significant amount for patients who typically have trouble retaining weight. All patients in the study continued taking older medications that help loosen mucus.

"Two weeks after using the drug my lung tests were above average for a healthy 15-year-old who didn't have cystic fibrosis," said Nick Mangano, 17, a Borowitz patient who has been taking the drug for two years. Before starting on Kalydeco, Mangano said he was hospitalized for lung infections five times in four years. Now he says he usually recovers from a cold within a week or two.

"I don't really need medicine for it anymore, it's totally different," said Mangano, who is considering leaving Buffalo for college next year — a step he hadn't previously considered because of his dependence on his family and physicians.

Only a few decades ago, children with cystic fibrosis seldom survived elementary school. Today, thanks to earlier diagnosis and new focus on diet and physical therapy, 47 percent live to be 18 or older.

The FDA approved the drug for patients six years old and up, though Vertex is also studying the drug in younger patients. Researchers hope that by using the drug earlier they will be able to prevent permanent lung damage, which is the primary cause of death for cystic fibrosis patients.

Mangano and others with the so-called G551D mutation have a defective protein that fails to balance the flow of chloride and water across the cell wall, leading to the buildup of internal mucus. The vast majority of cystic fibrosis patients have a different genetic defect, in which the protein does not reach the cell wall. Vertex is developing another drug to try and address that problem. Study data for that drug is expected later this year.
Kalydeco is part of a growing number of new medicines that target rare genetic variations found in subgroups of patients. Last year Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) launched a new lung cancer drug called Xalkori, which targets cancer linked to a genetic mutation found in less than 7 percent of patients.

After scientists identified the genetic sequence that causes cystic fibrosis in 1989, many experts hoped the disease could be cured by replacing the gene with a normal one. However, attempts at so-called gene therapy proved unsuccessful, and researchers began looking for ways to correct the genetic defect.

"I think it took the field about a decade to realize we had to look for other options," said Paul Negulescu, vice president of research at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

In 1998, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation approached Aurora BioSciences, now part of Vertex, to help screen potential drug candidates for a cystic fibrosis drug. In 2000, the foundation awarded the company more than $45 million to study and commercialize an experimental drug for the disease, the largest grant of its kind by a nonprofit disease group. To date, Vertex has received over $75 million in research and development funding from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Vertex has only one other drug on the market, the hepatitis C drug Incivek, which launched last May.

The most common side effects with Kalydeco were headache, stomach ache, rash diarrhea and dizziness.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Lilly Drug Boosts Good Cholesterol, Appears to Be Safe

Orlando, FL 11/15/11 (StreetBeat) --An experimental heart drug from Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE: LLY) dramatically boosted levels of "good" cholesterol and appeared to be safe, according to data from a clinical trial, providing the latest hope for a class of medicines with a troubled past.

The drug, evacetrapib, increased HDL cholesterol 53.6 percent at the lowest dose, and by a whopping 128.8 percent at the most potent dose in the mid-stage study, according to the data presented at the American Heart Association meeting in Orlando on Tuesday.

It also cut levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol as much as 36 percent when used alone, and as much as 14 percent when taken on top of statins, the widely used pills for lowering cholesterol.

Researchers said evacetrapib showed none of the safety signals found with a similar drug that had been developed by Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) . That drug, torcetrapib, also showed robust increases in HDL, but Pfizer stopped development of the medicine in 2006 after it was found to increase deaths.

"This is highly encouraging data that you've got an agent that has phenomenal effects on lipids and the safety profile looks clean," said Dr. Stephen Nicholls, the study's lead researcher and director of cardiovascular trials at the Cleveland Clinic.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) Reports Q3 Profits

Tallahassee, FL 11/1/11 (StreetBeat) --Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) reported better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by sales growth of its prescription drugs in emerging markets and its animal health, nutritionals and consumer healthcare products. International revenues, which account for 60% of Pfizer’s sales, also grew by 15% year-on-year, while US sales declined by 3%.

The world's biggest drugmaker said on Tuesday it earned $3.74 billion, or 48 cents per share in the third quarter, including a $1.3 billion after-tax gain on the recent sale of its Capsugel business. That compared with a profit of $866 million, or 11 cents per share, in the year-earlier period, when the company took a big charge for asbestos litigation.

Excluding special items, Pfizer earned 62 cents per share. Analysts on average expected 56 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Global revenue rose 7 percent to $17.19 billion, well above Wall Street expectations of $16.42 billion.

“Overall, I am very pleased with our financial performance despite the impact of product losses of exclusivity totalling approximately $950m this quarter and the challenges posed by current global market and economic conditions,” Ian Read, chief executive, said. “Excluding the impact of product losses of exclusivity, all of our businesses generated revenue growth while effectively managing their cost structures.”

Later this month, Pfizer will lose exclusive rights to sell Lipitor, its top-selling cholesterol drug, in the US. Mr Read said the company is “well prepared” for the loss, arguing that Pfizer’s drug pipeline is strong.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Planned Clinical Trials at Dana-Farber/Harvard University Cancer Center a Big Deal for Little Cellceutix (OTCQB:CTIX)

Cellceutix Corporation (OTCQB:CTIX) disclosed that it has signed a laboratory agreement with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University’s cancer hospital, for its planned Phase I clinical trial for Kevetrin™, Cellceutix’s novel cancer compound for the treatment of drug-resistant cancers. While entering clinical trials is a milestone event for any biotechnology firm, having the trial at the world’s number one cancer research center speaks volumes for the potential of Cellceutix and Kevetrin™. DF/HCC, is afforded the ability to be extremely selective as to which drugs in development it will devote its resources and they do not seem to pick a small drug maker very often.

Of course, there are a whole host of big pharma that have conducted, or are conducting, clinical trials at DF/HCC including the likes of Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Astrazeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN) and Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY), but small caps are few and far between. Although they may exist, no Over the Counter or OTCQB-listed companies were found, further showcasing the extreme rarity of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center agreeing to host a clinical trial of a small, pre-clinical company.

While a trial at DF/HCC, by no means implies impending achievements or drug approval by the Food and Drug Administration, some major drugs have come through the cancer center and have led to great successes for companies. Millenium Pharmaceuticals researched bortezomib (Velcade®) at Dana-Farber as an indication for multiple myeloma. Velcade® received FDA clearance in only seven years after initial synthesis even with early-stage trials moving notably slow as the drug moved through three different companies at first. Millenium was bought by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (TSE:4502) in April 2008 for nearly $9 billion with Velcade® as its flagship product which is still undergoing research at Dana-Farber for different indications.

It is an arduous endeavor to seek approval for clinical trials at the world’s elite cancer center as each and every component of the initial review process can be painstakingly slow as a result of required procedural assessments. One can only imagine the number of committees that review the application. Unlike other hospitals which may provide a more expeditious service, the recognition and expertise that accompanies an outfit like Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center showing a desire to research a particular drug is well worth the patience.

Having clinical trials hosted at DF/HCC should place Cellceutix at the forefront of developmental biotechs of all sizes, regardless of exchange listing; especially those in Phase I and a good portion of those in Phase II at lesser-known cancer centers. While no hospital ensures a positive outcome to clinicals, it could be discerned that odds are increased due to the selective nature of compounds that are permitted to enter trials at DF/HCC. Moreover, due to Kevetrin™ targeting drug-resistant cancers, Cellceutix will be researching their drug on terminal cancer patients (their ideal candidate) which raises the bar during Phase I as not only will the primary endpoint of safety be evaluated, but the possibility of efficacy being shown is a reality of the trials. Any sign of efficacy for a completely novel compound significantly increases the odds of expeditious development designations from the FDA.

Novel drugs are a hot commodity for any indication at the moment. Pharmasset, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRUS) is developing PSI-7977 as a treatment for Hepatitis C and posting strong results. The data has helped drive shares of VRUS northward by more than 250 percent so far this year to the $80 range (which would actually be $160 per share except for a 2 for 1 forward split in August). Split-adjusted shares were as low as $3.81 for VRUS just 2-1/2 years ago. Only in Phase II with its drug, Pharmasset boasts a nearly $6 billion market cap and serves as a solid reminder to followers of Cellceutix (with its current $32 million market cap and $0.37 per share price tag) as to what can happen in the mid-term with a potent drug candidate.

Cellceutix and Kevetrin™ have apparently impressed Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and its associates. Moreover, Cellceutix has Dr. Krishna Menon at the research helm as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Menon knows a bit about developing successful drugs from his time as a lead researcher at Eli Lilly where he won a President’s Award for his work in the development of multi-billion dollar cancer drugs Gemzar and Alimta. In June of this year, commenting on the robust pre-clinical research the has been generated studying Kevetrin™ on many different strains of cancer including breast, colon, lung, pancreatic and leukemia, Dr. Menon stated in a Cellceutix press release, “In all my years as a researcher, I have never seen anything like Kevetrin™.” That’s a strong statement and certainly food for thought about where Cellceutix could be in the near future.

Distributed by Viestly

LargeCap Stocks to Keep an Eye on Today

Tomahawk, WI 8/29/2011 (PennyPayDay) – AuRico Gold announced that it will acquire Northgate Minerals for C$1.46 billion ($1.48 billion) to create a new intermediate gold producer.

Northgate Minerals shares were surging 48.3% to $4.67 in premarket trading Monday and AuRico shares were falling 0.9% to $13.80.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer's apixaban drug showed promise in preventing strokes in a clinical study, the companies said.

Separately, Pfizer's lung-tumor fighting drug, Crizotinib, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Pfizer shares were gaining 2.4% to $18.64 and Bristol shares were rising 1% to $29.

Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Lone Star Funds are the winners of the bids for a $9.5 billion pool of U.S. commercial real estate loans sold by Anglo Irish Bank, according to Reuters.

Wells Fargo shares were advancing 1.3% to $24.90 and JPMorgan shares were adding 1.4% to $36.70.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. reported a 12% rise in its net earnings for the first half of 2011. But the company, which is also known as Sinopec, reported a 12.2 billion renminbi operating loss in its refining business.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Sinopec said it expects international crude oil prices to fluctuate within a wider range. The company also said the rest of the year "is likely to be marked by turbulence in the international financial markets, bringing uncertainty to the global economic recovery."

Dresser-Rand Group, an equipment services provider to the oil, gas and chemical industries, plans to repurchase up to $150 million of its common stock.

Insurers such as Chubb and Allstate are expected to be in focus as investors assess the property damage in the East Coast from Hurricane Irene.

PennyPayday Free Stock Quotes and Approach to the Stock Market

PennyPayday focuses on bringing penny stocks and small-cap companies from all exchanges into the spotlight for investors seeking early development opportunities. PennyPayday has quickly become a recognized penny stock site and a top source for investors seeking information and research on today's emerging hot stocks. PennyPayday provides the investing public with stock market daily news, free real-time stock quotes, free stock charts, research for investing, as well as economic stories, videos, and market briefs from a staff of experienced and dedicated financial journalists.

Sign up for our Free Newsletter today, and join the thousands already getting our emails on the hottest stocks to watch.

Disclaimer: Neither www.PennyPayday.com nor its officers, directors, partners, employees or anyone involved in the publication of this website or newsletters is a registered investment adviser or licensed broker-dealer in any jurisdiction whatsoever. PennyPayday may or may not have been compensated by mentioned companies. For full disclaimer/disclosure please read PennyPayday's disclaimer.

Distributed by Viestly

Icagen (NASDAQ:ICGN) Doubles Stock Price on Pfizer News

Shares of Icagen (Nasdaq:ICGN) jumped more than 100 percent today after announcing a milestone achievement and $1 million infusion from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE). In late trading, the stock was up 98 percent at $2.42 per share on heavy volume of more than 4 million shares. Icagen has a market cap of $15 million and a 52-week range between $0.96 and $9.60 per share.

Icagen today provided an update on its sodium channel program for pain and related disorders which is being conducted in collaboration with Pfizer. As previously reported, the companies recently conducted a clinical study in healthy volunteers of several collaboration compounds targeting the sodium ion channel Nav1.7. Based upon data obtained in this study, the companies have now selected one of these compounds to advance into further clinical studies. The selection of this compound has triggered a milestone payment to Icagen of $1.0 million.

P. Kay Wagoner, CEO of Icagen, stated, "We are very pleased that, in collaboration with Pfizer, we have now selected a novel compound for further clinical development in our Nav1.7 program. This marks an important achievement, as we believe, based upon a wide range of genetic and scientific evidence, that subtype selective sodium channel blockers represent a promising approach for the treatment of pain and related disorders. In achieving this milestone, we feel fortunate to be working with one of the world's leading pain research groups at Pfizer."

As previously noted, Pfizer and Icagen recently renewed and extended the research term of their collaboration through year-end 2011. In addition to Nav1.7, the collaboration also includes certain other sodium ion channel targets. Pfizer will continue to fund all aspects of the collaboration, including research and preclinical development efforts at Icagen, and has exclusive worldwide rights to commercialize products that result from the collaboration. Icagen is eligible to receive approximately $359 million upon achievement of specified research, development, regulatory and commercialization milestones for products under the collaboration, and is also eligible to receive tiered royalties, against which the commercialization milestones are creditable, based upon product sales.

Icagen is a biopharmaceutical company based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel orally-administered small molecule drugs that modulate ion channel targets. Utilizing its proprietary know-how and integrated scientific and drug development capabilities, Icagen has identified multiple drug candidates that modulate ion channels. The Company is conducting research and development activities in a number of disease areas, including epilepsy, pain and inflammation. The Company has a clinical stage program in epilepsy and pain.

To learn more about Icagen, please visit their website at www.icagen.com.