24/7 Wall St. has compiled a log of companies which have already signaled in press releases that they will be presenting data or that data will be presented on their behalf at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting.  We have previewed more than 25 companies so far and that is not even including Big Pharma names.  As of May 18, the total abstracts submitted were 5,264 and of those there have been 2,744 which have been accepted for presentation at ASCO.  Of those accepted for presentation, some 1,859 are going to be ‘ePublication only’ for viewers.  The breakdown for the Abstracts shows that the oral presentation is currently 257 presentations and 2,487 are listed as poster presentation only.

The most presentations accepted (203) so far are focused on Genitourinary Cancer, which covers urinary tract and male genital tract as follows: Prostate cancer; Bladder cancer; Kidney cancer; Testicular cancer; Penile cancer; Nonmalignant tumors of the urinary tract and male reproductive system; and Von Hippel Lindau disease.  As of today, the fewest accepted presentations (93) cover Pediatric oncology.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), the largest independent biotech that there is, recently showed updated results from a Phase 2 study showing that treatment with blinatumomab helped achieve a high-rate of complete response in 72% of adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated in the study. This blinatumomab is the first of a new class of agents called bi-specific T cell engagers antibodies, which are designed to harness the body’s cell-destroying T cells to kill cancer cells.  Blinatumomab targets cells expressing CD19, a protein found on the surface of B-cell derived leukemias and lymphomas, such as ALL. Full results of the study will be presented during an oral abstract session on June 4 at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) recently sold off but will will have updated clinical data from the pivotal PACE trial of ponatinib, its investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) on June 4.  The company said that the data will form the basis of its regulatory filings for marketing approval of Ponatinib for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblasatic leukemia.

ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL) and Daiichi Sankyo, Co., Ltd. (Japan) will have an oral presentation at the ASCO Annual Meeting featuring Phase 2 trial data with tivantinib as a single agent investigational second-line treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma. ArQule announced that this randomized, double-blind study met its primary endpoint in January and will now present the full results from this trial, including positive data in the pre-defined c-MET high population. Additional clinical data with tivantinib will be featured in two poster discussions and two general poster sessions.

Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) has recently risen on its lung cancer and melanoma results.  The company has three oral presentations at the annual meeting after having already presented Phase 1 data on MEK162 in 28 patients with biliary tract cancer at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in January 2012 showing that it was well tolerated and showed evidence of clinical efficacy in this patient population, including a complete response and a partial response. Stable disease was observed in 12 patients. The company has licensed selumetinib to AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) and licensed MEK162 to Novartis (NYSE: NVS).

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) release positive data on its Zytiga medicine showing that the treatment helped high-risk patients.  Zytiga was approved in 2011 and the drug helped patients’ tumors when prostate cancer had not yet metastasized beyond the prostate gland.

What is happening is that Dendreon keeps having lower Provenge sales despite the hope that more reimbursement and more doctor recommendations are supposed to be helping.  This is the second big drop this month after a disappointing revenue figure was shown over a week ago. Analysts have a Thomson Reuters consensus target of just over $367 million in sales in 2012 and just over $513 million in sales in 2013.

Wednesday brought up more questions because the SEC probe may be tied to the company’s dropped sales projections for Provenge in earlier periods when shares were far higher. The reality is that this had been disclosed with earnings over a week ago, but investors are shooting first and asking questions later.

The only good news here for investors is that Dendreon’s stock chart may offer some support not too much lower than the current 10.6% drop to $7.70. Dendreon has four different presentations at ASCO this June and here is a Seeking Alpha transcript of the CFO presentation at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch health conference this week.

At $7.70, Dendreon’s 52-week range is $6.46 to $42.87.  Those old hopes of a Dendreon buyout now feel very dated.

The company’s market cap is now only $1.14 billion and Dendreon has over $500 million in cash and liquidity on hand.  The presentation at a conference this week currently shows no need to raise more capital until the company can reach a breakeven level.

JON C. OGG

24/7 Wall St. wanted to make a log of companies which have already signaled that they will be presenting data or that data will be presented on their behalf at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting.  The data below is as follows:

As of May 10, the total abstracts submitted were 5,264 and of those there have been 2,744 which have been accepted for presentation at ASCO.  Of those accepted for presentation, some 1,859 are going to be ‘ePublication only’ for viewers.  The breakdown for the Abstracts shows that the oral presentation is currently 257 presentations and 2,487 are listed as poster presentation only.

The most presentations accepted (203) so far are focused on Genitourinary Cancer, which covers urinary tract and male genital tract as follows: Prostate cancer; Bladder cancer; Kidney cancer; Testicular cancer; Penile cancer; Nonmalignant tumors of the urinary tract and male reproductive system; and Von Hippel Lindau disease.  As of today, the fewest accepted presentations (93) covers Pediatric oncology.

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) will have updated clinical data from the pivotal PACE trial of ponatinib, our investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) recently noted that it “presented Phase 1 data on MEK162 in 28 patients with biliary tract cancer at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in January 2012. MEK162 was well tolerated and showed evidence of clinical efficacy in this patient population, including a complete response and a partial response. Stable disease was observed in 12 patients.”

Biovest International, Inc. (OTCQB: BVTI), a majority-owned subsidiary of Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB: ABPI) announced in early May that the new data from the BiovaxID® Phase II mantle cell lymphoma clinical trial conducted by the U.S. National Cancer Institute will be presented by the NCI at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLDX) previously noted that interim topline results of the Phase 2b EMERGE study of CDX-011 in patients with advanced breast cancer will be presented in a webcast on May 23, 2012 but it is not going to get in at ASCO as it noted, “Celldex anticipated presenting these topline results at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2012 Annual Meeting. Due to a clerical error in which the incorrect submission category was inadvertently selected in the on-line ASCO submission form, the abstract for the EMERGE study was not considered for acceptance. Celldex attempted to rectify this clerical error but was informed that no exceptions are made to the submission policy.”  Call this the “ASCO-less ASCO presentation.”

CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR) will present data from its Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in patients with advanced solid tumors, primarily soft tissue sarcomas.

Exelixis, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXEL) recently announced that cabozantinib will be the subject of nine presentations at the upcoming Annual Meeting… The company noted that cabozantinib encompasses phase 3 pivotal trials in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

Galena Biopharma (NASDAQ: GALE) will present “Safety and Long-Term Maintenance of Anti-HER2 Immunity Following Booster Inoculations of the E75 Breast Cancer Vaccine” and it will host a panel called “HER2 Targeted Cancer Therapies” which includes NeuVax update from the Phase 2 and current Phase 3 PRESENT trials.

Generex Biotechnology Corporation (OTCBB: GNBT) will be presenting data on its breast cancer treatment ambitions.

Genomic Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: GHDX) recently announced that 18 abstracts were accepted for presentation at ASCO which will be highlighting Breast, Colon and Prostate progress.

ImmunoGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGN) noted in late-April “At the upcoming ASCO meeting in June, we expect to see not only EMILIA Phase III data and new SAR3419 Phase I data, but also data from the Phase II trial evaluating the safety of trastuzumab emtansine in the adjuvant/neoadjuvant setting.”

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) has two abstracts: one covering a Phase 3 study of NKTR-102 versus Treatment of Physician’s Choice in patients with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with an anthracycline, a taxane and capecitabine; a second will be NKTR-102 in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

NewLink Genetics Corporation (NASDAQ: NLNK) announced in April that data from its HyperAcute(R) Pancreas immunotherapy and its HyperAcute(R) Lung immunotherapy as well as its D-1MT IDO pathway inhibitor will be presented at the annual meeting.

Pharmacyclics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC) will have two oral presentations and one poster discussion session: two oral presentations will highlight the first reporting on data from the ibrutinib (formerly PCI-32765) Phase II CLL single agent trial in treatment naïve patients and the ibrutinib Phase Ib/II CLL combination trial with ofatumumab in relapsed or refractory patients; the poster discussion session will highlight data from the ibrutinib Phase Ib CLL combination trial with bendamustine and rituximab in relapsed or refractory patients.

Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) will show updated information on ADCETRIS for patients with relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL).

Here was a recent list of other stocks to watch covered by an analyst in the Denver Post.

JON C. OGG

After the weakness in the broad market has the DJIA down 140 points (or -1.1%) and the S&P 500 Index down 15 points or 1.1%, it turns out that most of the defensive stock sector leaders are holding up far better than the broad market in our go-to defensive stock portfolio.  We have taken a look at each of these with share price snapshots right before Noon EST.

No matter what, you gotta drink!  Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is down 0.5% at $66.28 against a 52-week high of $71.89; Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is down 0.4% at $76.97 against a 52-week high of $77.82.  With yields of about 3% on average, these are now challenging the 30-Year Treasury yields.  The beer segment is not acting defensive as it should, perhaps because they are foreign issues now with more currency risks: Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (NYSE: BUD) and Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE: TAP) are not acting very defensive with price corrections of 3% and 2$ respectively.

Perhaps the most defensive you can get is water, and the top water utility is American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) with a premium valuation.  This water leader is down 0.8% at $33.73 against a 52-week and all-time high of $34.89.

Food is supposed to be defensive, although a drop of 1.5% in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) to $94.10 is causing some added stress in what was the darling of the DJIA in 2011.  The rest of the defensive food segment seems to be less damaged when you evaluate the moves: Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) is down only 0.4% at $39.11; ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG) is down 0.7% at $25.52; Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) is down only 0.3% at $33.97; and Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) is down only 1 penny at $28.92 as the world is getting excited about Spam again.

Smoking is defensive again and the tobacco stocks are holding up much better than the broad market with those 5% and higher dividends: Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is down only $0.3% at $32.10 against a 52-week high of $32.62; Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) is down only 0.2% at $16.88; and Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) is down only 0.2% at $40.18 against a high of $42.81.

Shaving, diapers, toilet paper, and other consumer products are acting defensive with some gains on a weak day.  Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) is trading up $0.11 at $64.36 and Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) is up $0.08 at $79.08 with KMB challenging the 52-week high.  Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) is down ‘only’ 0.5% at $99.10 against a 52-week high of $100.81.

Drug and medical is holding up on the consumer end with losses look far less than the broader market: Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is down 0.35% at $38.40; Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is down 0.3% at $22.38; and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is down the least with a drop of 0.2% at $64.65 against a 52-week high of $68.05.

Those smartphones and telephones are somewhat defensive, and those 5%-plus yields sure shield investors who are worried about chasing the hottest growth stocks.  Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is down only 1-penny at $40.52 with a 5% dividend yield and AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) is actually up 0.2% at $33.08 with a yield of about 5.4%.

When investors want safety and when the Treasury yield is so low on the longer-term Treasury market, many investors turn to the safety of the higher dividends and safer stocks that are defensive.  Greece and the rest of PIIGS may fall again, but the logic is that U.S. consumers still have to eat, drink, shave, put on deodorant, and tend to stick with their core vices as best as they can.

JON C. OGG

The company beat earnings on the surface for the latest quarter as net income was $4 million, or $0.20 EPS, versus $4.1 million, or $0.19 EPS.  The report shows that earnings per share was up while net income fell due to there being fewer shares on the market compared to a year ago. Revenue rose to $55.9 million from $50.9 million a year ago.

PetMed Express acquired about 162,000 new customers during the fourth quarter compared to 130,000 during the same period a year ago.  That 25% increase allowed for the company to end its last fiscal year with a total yearly gain of approximately 722,000 customers compared to 645,000 for the year earlier.  Online sales rose by 16% for the quarter and were up by 8% for the year ended March 31, 2012.

A higher operating cost bit into earnings in part due to advertising expenses.  Shares are down by 19% at $11.12 against a 52-week range of $8.51 to $14.77.  If the company can manage to hit its consensus earnings targets then this site trades at just over 14-times is new adjusted share price.

Any time you see a move like this it is hard to wonder if you are not seeing a large overreaction on that particular day.

JON C. OGG

It was the interim data from its Phase 2 combination study of VX-809 and KALYDECO showed ‘significant’ improvements in lung function in people with cystic fibrosis who have two copies of the F508del mutation.

A planned interim analysis was conducted after approximately half of the study patients had completed 56 days of treatment. The current results are based on data from 37 homozygous F508del patients who completed treatment in the 56-day study and it also included 11 patients with one or two copies of the F508del mutation who received placebo.

Vertex showed that there was a statistically significant improvement in lung function across the combined treatment groups relative to baseline compared to placebo. Of those who received VX-809 and KALYDECO, approximately 46% or 17/37 experienced an absolute improvement from baseline to Day 56 in lung function of 5 percentage points or more.  What is more interesting is that approximately 30 percent or 11/37 experienced an absolute improvement from baseline to Day 56 of 10 percentage points or more.

None of the 11 patients treated with placebo achieved a 5-percentage point or more improvement from baseline to Day 56 in lung function.

Vertex has already seen its shares up almost 60% at $59.70 or so on more than 3.6 million shares that already eclipses the average daily volume of about 2.4 million shares.  It cannot go without saying but the market cap before today’s news was almost $7.9 billion.  That implies that billions of dollars of value are being derived from the news.

JON C. OGG

Tang Capital is listed as a creditor and owns some $38.9 million in notes and the firm is opposed to the company supporting a new gout treatment called Krystexxa, which the activist creditor calls a total failure.  There is also the generic and branded Oxandrin that includes doses of the anabolic steroid oxandrolone.

We have highlighted the woes here before, most recently the CEO departure to Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN).  At that time shares were at $2.22 in early February.

The reason that Savient is still surviving is because back in 2009 it priced a 4.4 million share secondary offering at $13.29 per share in a sale through J.P. Morgan and Wedbush Morgan that raised about $57 million before fees.

Savient’s filing claims that Tang’s allegations are without merit.  The December 30, 2011 balance sheet lists roughly $169.7 million in cash and short-term securities, but there is also more than $175 million in long-term debt.  Yahoo! Finance showed that the net tangible assets as being negative at -$8.41 million as of the end of 2011.  The company is burning through cash at more than $10 million per month according to the listed changes in the last two available quarters.

Who and what Tang’s ambition happens to be is unknown because they are a creditor.  The issue is that whether you have high hopes for biotech or not, the balance sheet is now inverted here and that is based on data one quarter back.  The company has an active $100 million shelf registration which was filed almost a month ago, but how the company can raise that much capital remains a severe mystery if you look at the issues.

Savient has a market capitalization rate of only $111 million after another 15% drop today to $1.575 per share.  This was a $2.37 stock on Monday and the 52-week range is now $1.42 to $11.33.

Thomson Reuters expects only $32.2 million in 2012 revenues and almost $62 million in 2012 revenues, with losses expected in both years.

Whether or not the company can survive or not is still a matter of opinion.  What is certain is that this fails probably every bit of suitability requirements for widows and orphans funds.

The company’s partnership page lists:

We have exclusively licensed worldwide rights to the technology related to KRYSTEXXA® and its uses from Duke University and Mountain View Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  Duke University developed the recombinant uricase enzyme and Mountain View developed the PEGylation technology used in the manufacture of KRYSTEXXA.  Mountain View and Duke have been granted U.S. and foreign patents disclosing and claiming the licensed technology and, in addition, Savient owns or co-owns U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications, which collectively form a broad portfolio of patents covering the composition, manufacture and methods of use and administration of KRYSTEXXA.

We depend on third parties to manufacture pegloticase and have entered into commercial supply agreements with third-party manufacturers.

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) serves as the exclusive U.S. distributor of our authorized generic version of oxandrolone tablets, an Oxandrin® brand equivalent product that we supply to Watson Pharma.

JON C. OGG

So, the market is a huge one.

VIVUS shares are near a 52-week high and trade at $25.50. Shares have risen four-fold from their 52-week low. VIVUS’s market cap is only $2.3 billion. There is reason, however, for caution on Wall St. VIVUS has no revenue, and its expenses were $47 million last year, and have been $165 million over the last three years.

Many of the commercial benefits for VIVUS remain in the future. The company reported:

VIVUS is currently in discussion with potential partners to commercialize STENDRA in the United States and in its territories in the rest of the world.

STENDRA (avanafil) is licensed from Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation. VIVUS has development and commercial rights to STENDRA for the treatment of sexual dysfunction worldwide with the exception of certain Asian Pacific Rim countries. In South Korea, STENDRA is approved and is marketed by JW Pharma under the brand name Zepeed.

The drug has side-effects similar to other ED drugs–pain, nausea, and the chance that an erection can last more than 4 hours.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Canaccord’s Salveen Richter has maintained a SELL rating with a price target down at $12.00 per share.  This is important because Amylin closed at $25.73 and the 52-week trading range is $8.03 to $26.87.  The report is based in part on the notion that Bydureon sales are off to a slow start that was disclosed in the company’s earnings report yesterday.  The report was called a weak earnings report with Bydureon revenue of only $6.9 million versus $10.4 million expected.

The report may be very much of a standout because some of the companies which have been named as likely and/or potential bidders are Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY), Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK), AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN), Sanofi (NYSE: SNY), and Takeda.  We have also wondered perhaps whether or not Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) or Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) could be among the possible buyers, but these two seem to be dismissed elsewhere as likely buyers.

The report does caution about a floor from the buyout speculation: “That said, continued speculation on the company’s takeout potential will likely set a floor on Amylin shares at current levels, barring a potential E.U. partnership.”   Other notes as follows: Bydureon captured 5.9% of the GLP–1 market… Bydureon is being impacted by competition, healthcare reform and reimbursement/access… AMLN Q1/12 total revenue of $153.7 million was under consensus of $162.1 million… it is lowering FY12 Bydureon revenue estimate to $133.9 million from $209.5 million… firm is increasing its non-GAAP SG&A expense to $395.5 million from $356.3 million… firm is lowering FY12 GAAP EPS estimate to -$1.68 EPS from -$1.09 EPS.

Canaccord Genuity’s valuation puts its 12-month price target at $12.00 and it is based upon 20-times the firm’s fully taxed and fully diluted GAAP earnings estimate for 2016 of $1.55 EPS that is then discounted back to 2012 at a rate of 28%.

What is interesting is that the Thomson Reuters consensus target is only $18.10, so there is quite a takeover premium built into the stock.  Amylin may get acquired or it may not.  This is a bold call considering that the company even recently announced that Carl Icahn voluntarily dismissed his suit against the company.  It would seem that Carl Icahn believes that a premium buyout is headed Amylin’s way.

JON C. OGG

Just this week we saw a Dow Jones report calling for DJIA components to boost their dividends by about 8% on average in 2012, and J&J is announcing a hike of 7% to its quarterly payout.  J&J was one of the predicted dividend hikes in that report. The prior quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share is rising up to $0.61 per share per quarter.

The company is talking up its 2011 results, its strong financial position, and confidence in the future.  It is the 50th consecutive year that it has raised the payout.  With a $64.70 share price, the new dividend yield comes to almost 3.8% if you round higher (from 3.77%).

Today’s dividend hike makes no mention of J&J’s quality control issues and product recalls that it is still working through. The company issued a separate release noting that Alex Gorsky is formally taking over as CEO and that Bill Weldon will remain in place as a non-executive Chairman of the board of directors.

Gorsky’s ”outline for the future” has a lot of good buzzwords in there… adapt faster than ever… be more agile than ever… new thinking… more cost-efficient ways of delivering health care… an expanded global presence and mindset… working smarter and harder.

Both Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) have raised their dividend in recent quarters for the first time in years.  J&J’s 3.8% indication compares to dividend yields of 3.9% for Pfizer and 4.4% for Merck & Co.  That may lag in yield and the company may still be working through some issues, but 50 straight years of dividends hikes is rather impressive even if the yield lags.

JON C. OGG