More Videos
- Getting to the Heart of the Merck-Abbott Embargo Break
- Merck: Both Sides Now
- A Public Hearing That Isn't Public
- Fighting The Flu Vaccine Critics
- Merck’s Mega-Monday Morning
- What Not To Wear At Sanofi-Pasteur
- Merck: Live Long And Prosper
- Lights, Camera, Lipitor!
- Biopharma's Bustin' Out All Over
- Friday At The Fat Fight
SPECIAL REPORT
MOST SHARED
- Stocks Overvalued, Recession Will Return: Meredith Whitney
- Has Twitter's Finest Hours (Seconds) Come and Gone?
- U.S. May Wind Up Green With Envy
- Time Warner to Spin Off AOL on December 9
- US Top Banks Warn Congress on 'Break-Up' Risks
- CNBC Video: Warren Buffett & Bill Gates - Keeping American Great
- Paulson Betting Unemployment Not Getting Much Worse?
- Stocks May Rise Further after Fed Waves on 'Risk Trade'
- Millions May Have to Repay Part of Obama Tax Credit
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Almost Doubles Wal-Mart Holdings During Summer
- Answers to Your Questions: A Path to Economic Disaster?
- 5 Ways to Play the Chinese Markets: Analyst
- Meredith Whitney: Turns Bearish
- 3 Stock Plays on Rising College Costs
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Almost Doubles Wal-Mart Holdings During Summer
- Nov. 16: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Getting to the Heart of the Merck-Abbott Embargo Break
- What MGM's Sale Could Say About Value of Content
- My Ratings on Lowe's & Home Depot: Analyst
- Obama Nudges Hu on Yuan; to Ease Trade Tensions
- Fed's Kohn Sees No Asset Bubbles Building in US
- Stocks May Rise Further after Fed Waves on 'Risk Trade'
- Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Boosts Stake in Wal-Mart
- Microsoft Co-founder Allen Diagnosed with Cancer
- Time Warner to Spin Off AOL on December 9
- Gates Boosts Waste Management, Coca Cola Stakes
- US Cities With Most Underwater Mortgages
- What's Kept Stock Rally Going? Fear, Not Confidence
PHARMA'S MARKET VIDEO
Cholesterol Drug Battle: Niaspan vs. Zetia 
16 Nov 2009Cardiologist Grades Cholesterol Drug Study 16 Nov 2009
Merck's Cholesterol Drugs Under Pressure 16 Nov 2009
Cholesterol Drug Battle: Merck vs. Abbott Labs 16 Nov 2009
Cholesterol Drug Battle 16 Nov 2009
Novo Nordisk CEO on Diabetes Epidemic 13 Nov 2009
RSS FEED
Pharma's Market
Text Size 
 |
On President's Day, Onyx issued this press release, saying it had stopped a clinical trial of Nexavar for lung cancer because it didn't look like it would meet its main goal of extending patients' lives.
In fact, Onyx [ONXX
Loading...
()
] and its partner Bayer say there were more deaths in a specific subset of patients who got Nexavar. The late-stage study had enrolled more than 900 previously untreated patients with non-small cell lung cancer at more than 140 clinical trial sites worldwide. The patients got chemo and Nexavar or chemo plus placebo.
The trial was stopped after a planned interim analysis and on the recommendation of a data safety monitoring committee. Officials say they just got the news over the holiday weekend.
In brief prepared remarks on a conference call this morning, Onyx CEO Hollings Renton said, "Clearly we are disappointed by the lung cancer results. (But) these results don't change our long-term outlook that Nexavar can become a standard of care across a number of tumor types."
Onyx and Bayer are testing Nexavar on skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer and leukemia. Renton said Nexavar will become "a cornerstone of cancer care." Nonetheless, the stock fell even more during the conference call.
Officials said because of "the dynamics of the marketplace," they can't give sales guidance for this year and don't feel comfortable projecting profitability for the full year 2008, although there could be profitable quarters.
In a research note to clients this morning, Leerink Swann analyst Howard Liang writes, "...the early termination (of the clinical trial) for lack of efficacy was not expected. Removal of (lung cancer sales) projections would significantly reduce the earnings leverage that would have translated into large upside in valuation."
But Wachovia Capital Markets analyst George Farmer says, "We would be buyers (of ONXX shares) on this potential weakness." He's telling clients, "Upside potential remains. We believe that Nexavar remains stable in approved indications (kidney and liver cancers)...."
And Rodman & Renshaw's Mike King says it's a buying opportunity for investors in ImClone Systems [IMCL
Loading...
()
]. He writes, "We believe this news is positive for IMCL as it potentially removes the competitive threat from Nexavar...." ImClone is testing Erbitux on lung cancer.
R&R makes a market in IMCL. Wachovia and Leerink Swann make a market in ONXX.
Onyx's longtime CEO Hollings Renton is supposed to retire this year. The company hasn't announced his replacement yet.
When I interviewed him early last month at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, I asked Renton if recurring speculation about ONXX being a takeout target might be making it diffficult to hire his successor. He replied that the company is well into the process and that a lot of people are "raising their hands" because Onyx has "a great drug and it works."
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes