Tracleer and PPH News
New use for Viagra: Treating lung disease
By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY
Viagra, the erectile-dysfunction drug used by more than 26 million men worldwide, was reborn Monday as Revatio, a drug to treat pulmonary hypertension, a rare, fatal lung disease caused by constrictions in the blood vessels that supply the lungs.
The main ingredient in Viagra is reborn as Revatio, a drug used to treat a fatal lung disease.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug's main ingredient, sildenafil citrate, for the new indication in a different dose — 25 milligrams vs. 20, 50 and 100 milligrams for Viagra — and with a new look. Revatio is white and round; Viagra is a blue diamond.
The drug dilates blood vessels, which promotes erections and reduces blood pressure in the lungs. Revatio demonstrated its short-term effectiveness in a 12-week study that involved 277 patients from 25 countries. Patients took Revatio or a placebo; those who took Revatio could walk at least 148 feet farther in six minutes than those on placebo, a statistically valid boost in performance.
About 95% of patients survived 18 months on Revatio, compared with the 65% survival predicted for that population, says Gary Burgess of Pfizer, Viagra's maker, who directed the research.
Will the drug work long-term? "Only time will tell," says Norman Edelman, medical director of the American Lung Association. "Anything that lowers blood pressure in the lungs and can do it over time will probably prolong life."
Bruce Brundage of the Heart Institute of the Cascades in Bend, Ore., says one of the drug's advantages is that "it is simple to give, rather than intravenously or in an injection." The only other drug that can be given orally, Bosentan, can damage the liver. Studies are underway to see whether Revatio can be given with Bosentan and other drugs to yield an even bigger benefit.
Revatio's known side effects are typical of those for Viagra: muscle aches, flushing, blue-tinged vision. Unwanted erections weren't a problem. "Most of our patients were female," Burgess says. "Even among males there wasn't a single report."
Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features Alpharma, Myogen, United Therapeutics, TXU Corp., Pixar Animation Studios
CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2005--Among the stocks featured in the August 2 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Alpharma (NYSE:ALO), Myogen (NASDAQ:MYOG), United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR), TXU Corp. (NYSE:TXU), and Pixar Animation Studios (NASDAQ:PIXR). Schaeffer's Market Blog is just one of the many free market commentaries written everyday at www.SchaeffersResearch.com - the home of Bernie Schaeffer and Schaeffer's Investment Research. The Market Blog is written throughout every trading day by Schaeffer's financial analysts and traders. They are quick insights to the day's most notable market activity from an options perspective. For additional information about this report or to have it delivered to you free via email every day click on the following link. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB1M&PAGE=1
Schaeffer's Market Blog for Tuesday, August 2, 2005:
Below are just a few of today's Market Blog entries. Click here to read all of today's Market Blog. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB1C&PAGE=1 .
10:35 AM Pharma's Leading the Dow and Nasdaq
A couple of pharmaceutical stocks are soaring this morning. Alpharma (NYSE:ALO), a New Jersey-based firm was up 32.2 percent at last check after reporting profits of 38 cents per share. Analysts, on average, had expected net income of nine cents per share. Interestingly, revenue came in at $367.9 million against a consensus estimate of $340.3 million. That's an impressive jump in profit for a modest increase in revenue.
Myogen (NASDAQ:MYOG) was up 26.9 percent at last check. The company reported a net second-quarter loss of $21.5 million, or 60 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $13.2 million, or 50 cents per share in the same period last year.
In a press release, MYOG's J. William Freytag, President and Chief Executive Officer stated: "We made significant progress during the past quarter on our two late-stage product candidates, ambrisentan and darusentan. While the results of the ESSENTIAL trials did not support continuation of the enoximone development program, we continue to be excited by the opportunities that our two current product candidates present to positively impact the treatment of significant cardiovascular disorders. We will now focus our energy and corporate resources on these opportunities. We expect to report important clinical trial results for darusentan in August and ambrisentan by the end of the year."
10:55 AM United Therapeutics Leaps on Positive Earnings
According to Yahoo!Finance, United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) is a biotechnology company engaged in the development and commercialization of therapeutic products for patients with chronic and life-threatening cardiovascular, cancer, and infectious diseases. Its Remodulin treats pulmonary hypertension, which affects the blood vessels between the heart and lungs, and the company is still investigating its use for peripheral vascular disease, which affects blood vessels in the legs. Other products in the pipeline could treat other types of cardiovascular disease, hepatitis B and C, metastic cancer, and HIV. UTHR's CardioPAL is a device sold by its Medicomp unit that monitors over the phone or Internet the hearts of patients susceptible to arrhythmia and angina.
This morning the company announced second-quarter earnings per share of 49 cents, handily beating Wall Street's estimate of 33 cents per share. Revenue was $30.1 million, also higher than analysts' estimate of $25.4 million. Revenue rose 64 percent over the same quarter last year while earnings jumped more than 170 percent. The stock has gained more than 18 percent on the news to trade at 63.76. Going into the report, pessimism was significant. The Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) is 1.11, higher than nearly 87 percent of all those taken for the past year. Its short interest of more than 4.6 million shares generates a short-interest ratio of more than 16 days and amounts to more than 21 percent of the stock's float.
The above are just a few of today's Daily Market Blog entries. Click here to read all of today's Daily Market Blog. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB1C&PAGE=1 .
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About Schaeffer's Investment Research (www.SchaeffersResearch.com)
Schaeffer's Investment Research, founded by Bernie Schaeffer in 1981, is a financial information and trading resources company. It publishes Bernie Schaeffer's Option Advisor, the nation's leading options subscription newsletter. The firm's contrarian approach focuses on stocks with technical and fundamental trends that run counter to investor expectations. The firm's website, http://www.SchaeffersResearch.com , is recognized as one of the leading information sources for stock and options traders and was cited as the top options website by both Forbes and Barron's. Click here for more details about Schaeffer's trading methodology: http://www.SchaeffersResearch.com/method .
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