BioHealth Business Daily (ACAD, AEN, DNDN, EXAS, ITMN, MIPI, OREX, OSIP, RNN, SLXP, VVUS)

We are seeing many news-related movers in today’s edition of the BioHealth Business Daily.  ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD), Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: AEN), Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN), Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS), InterMune, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN), Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIPI), Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OREX), OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIP), Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: RNN), Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ: SLXP), and VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) are all on the move.

We have included the news summaries, price reactions, and have given some added color on each where applicable.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD) is trading up and recovering some of its losses from the peak of the last year after it announced that Dr. Friedman will present additional data demonstrating that pimavanserin was safe and well tolerated for Parkinson’s Disease psychosis at the 62nd American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting.  Shares are up 7.4% at $1.89 on 2.4 million shares.  Average volume is only 582,000 shares and the 52-week range is $0.88 to $6.60. UPDATE FOR CLOSE: shares closed at $1.77, up only 0.57% on over 3.9 million shares.

Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: AEN) is considerably higher after it announced positive results of part 1 of its CopperProof-2 study in Alzheimer’s Disease patients and noted mild cognitive impairment.  Shares have a new 52-week high of $2.70, and the stock is up a sharp 41% at $2.15.  Even after today’s gains it has a mere $46.6 million market cap. UPDATE FOR CLOSE: shares closed up 24.3% at $1.89 on 10.7 million shares.

CombinatoRx, Incorporated (NASDAQ: CRXX) is up after it announced the discovery of a novel multi-target mechanism to treat hematologic malignancies.  Shares are up 6% at $1.41 on 3.2 million shares.  The average volume is 2.5 million shares and the 52-week trading range is $0.49 to $2.60. UPDATE FOR CLOSE: shares closed at $1.38, up 3.76% on 4.8 million shares.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) has managed to recover and is in positive territory after the stock downgraded by Citigroup on valuation and the target is $40.00.  Shares are up 0.26% at $38.93 and the stock has traded as low as $38.17 early this morning. UPDATE FOR CLOSE: shares closed at $39.12, up 0.75% on 3.73 million shares.

Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS) sold 4,200,000 shares of common stock at a price of $4.50 per share in a public secondary offering to receive net proceeds of about $17.6 million after fees. The funds are going to the company and it is still seeking to obtain FDA clearance of its sDNA colorectal cancer screening product.  Shares closed at $4.69 yesterday and the stock is down 3.4% at $4.53 on over 400,000 shares.  The average volume is only 173,000 shares per day and this was at $4.85 5 trading days ago. UPDATE FOR CLOSE: shares closed at $4.53, down 3.4% at $4.53.

InterMune, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN) is hardly reacting to what looked like positive news.  The company reported that its top-line results from a Phase IIb study of Danoprevir in patients with chronic Hepatitis C were among the very best reported by any DAA compound to date.  The news sounded big but the stock reaction is muted…. up 0.67% at $48.25 on only 600,000 shares.  The 52-week range is $10.48 to $49.05, so there has already been much movement ahead of the news.  Average volume is 2.4 million shares.  UPDATE FOR CLOSE: shares closed at $48.14, up 0.44% on only 1.3 million shares.

Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIPI) was the biggest winner of all on Tuesday with a gain of  over 100% as we had noted as a “chasing 10-baggers” example of biotech investors running up stocks on positive cancer news.  Shares are giving back a sharp 20% at $2.76 on continued profit taking and a rethinking of the huge move.  Two days ago this was a $1.50 stock, yet yesterday’s high was an amazing $4.49 and the 52-week range is $1.05 to $7.90.  UPDATE AT CLOSE: My-pie closed down 16% at $2.88 on 3.1 million shares.

Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OREX) is recovering again from the lows today after shares dropped from over $5.80 to under $5.00 before stabilizing yesterday on news that it was revising data on its obesity drug.  Today’s gain so far is up 3.9% at $5.30 on about 450,000 shares versus and average volume of about 550,000 shares. UPDATE FOR CLOSE: shares closed at $5.51, up 4% on 1.29 million shares.

OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIP) has announced that its formal earnings report will be released on April 22, 2010 after the markets closes.  This alone does not matter, but the pending Astellas hostile tender offer is April 23, 2010.  As noted last week, some trades and bets are being made that the premium above the $52.00 will not be justified in today’s prices.  UPDATE FOR CLOSE: shares closed at $60.00, up 0.4% on only 718,000 shares.

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: RNN) is trading up after it issued additional comments and some clarifications on its phase IIa study results of serdaxin in major depressive disorder.  Shares are up over 10% at $1.95 on 8.77 million shares.  The 52 week range is $0.40 to $3.68 and the average volume is just under 2 million shares. UPDATE FOR CLOSE: shares closed up 22% at $2.15 on almost 15.3 million shares.

Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ: SLXP) is trading higher on analyst coverage as the stock was initiated with an ‘Overweight’ rating by Thomas Weisel.  Shares are up 2.25% at $40.00 and the $40.03 high today marks a 52-week high with the new range of the last 52-weeks being $8.78 to $40.03. UPDATE FOR CLOSE: shares closed at $39.64, up 1.3% on 1.11 million shares.

VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is seeing a very muted reaction to an analyst research call.  Its shares were initiated with a BUY rating at Needham with a $15.00 price target.  Shares are up a mere 0.8% at $8.94 on 2.1 million shares already in under two hours of trading; the average volume is only 2.4 million shares and the 52-week range is $3.61 to $12.88.  UPDATE FOR CLOSE: shares closed up 2.8% at $9.12 on 4.2 million shares.

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JON C. OGG