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Cholesterol Drug Battle: Niaspan vs. Zetia 16 Nov 2009
Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. CNBC's Mike Huckman has the details.

Cardiologist Grades Cholesterol Drug Study

16 Nov 2009

Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic, shares his reaction with CNBC's Mike Huckman.

Merck's Cholesterol Drugs Under Pressure

16 Nov 2009

A new study is putting Merck's cholesterol drugs under pressure today, reports CNBC's Mike Huckman, with Ken Frazier, Merck Global Human Health president.

Cholesterol Drug Battle: Merck vs. Abbott Labs

16 Nov 2009

Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. Barbara Ryan, pharma analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities, shares her reaction.

Cholesterol Drug Battle 16 Nov 2009
Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. CNBC's Mike Huckman has the details.

Novo Nordisk CEO on Diabetes Epidemic

13 Nov 2009

Diabetes is a global epidemic that presents an estimated $25 billion drug and device market and some predict that number could double over the next several years. Lars Sorensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, the world's largest diabetes care company, talks to CNBC's Mike Huckman.

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CNBC ON DIGG

Hey, What's Up Doc?

Published: Monday, 6 Jul 2009 | 11:55 AM ET

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By: Mike Huckman
Reporter

Bugs Bunny
AP
Could a carrot-chomping Bugs Bunny become a drug pitchman? Well, maybe, if the small Israeli company Protalix BioTherapeutics [PLX Loading... () ] could pay Warner Brothers enough money for Bugs' services. PLX also needs to first win FDA approval of its drug for the rare, genetic Gaucher disease. And today that's looking like it could happen sooner rather than later.

Protalix announced this morning that the FDA has approached the company about possibly making the late-stage experimental drug available to certain patients under a special expanded access program before it's even formally approved. The agency is reacting to the recent setback suffered by biotech giant Genzyme [GENZ Loading... () ], which is having manufacturing issues at the plant that makes GENZ's very expensive, but widely used blockbuster Gaucher drug, Cerezyme. Apparently the agency is trying to avoid the impact of a potential shortage of treatments.

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So, what's up with Bugs? Well, Protalix's drug is made with carrot proteins. No, it doesn't have a kibbutz (a communal farm) that grows the vegetable and a bunch of juicers churning 24/7 in its labs. It's all done with a proprietary technology the company owns to possibly make drugs with plant cell-based proteins from carrots and tobacco, too. Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical [TEVA Loading... () ], the world's biggest generic drug company, has partnered with Protalix on a couple of things based on the technology.

Shares of PLX are up nearly 200 percent so far this year and are rallying again today to a new intra-day high on the FDA news. And the volume is relatively huge. On an average day, only around 67,000 PLX shares change hands. As I write this more than a million shares have been traded. GENZ shares are getting dinged a little again.

That's all folks.

Questions? Comments? and follow me on Twitter at mhuckman