Aug 27, 2010 10:04 AM PDT
The real drama of the market often goes unnoticed, but today, paralleling the news that McDonald's Corp., (MCD) the world's largest fast-food chain, reported its smallest monthly sales gain of 2.2 percent globally since February, VIVUS Inc., (VVUS) reported its late-stage trial of obesity drug Onexa resulted in a 14.7 percent loss of body weight and a second trial in diabetics resulted in a 13.2 percent loss.
Gaining 78.73% ($5.44) in early trading VIVUS Inc., (VVUS) is now trading in the $12.35 range on the Nasdaq. VVUS has a new market cap of $863 million.
VVUS has a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 757,226 shares and as of this writing had topped that by 37 times, trading 28,327,178 shares traded today (so far).
What catapulted VVUS http://www.vivus.com/ this morning was news that its obesity drug Onexa had produced significant weight loss results in trials.
VVUS management announced that patients who took Onexa for a year lost more weight than those taking a placebo control. A trial of 1,267 obese patients lost an average of 37 pounds. A second trial of 2,487 patients with other weight associated problems like diabetes had an average weight loss of 30 pounds. A second group who took a lower dosage lost 24 pounds.
The late-stage tests met the requirements for VVUS to apply for a marketing application from the government. VVUS will now enter talks with major pharmaceutical houses for a distribution deal.
VVUS management said the weight loss achieved was accompanied by a substantial improvement in key heart risks such as hypertension, diabetes and elevated triglycerides, which are a type of body fat. Noting a projection; a typical 51-year-old female weighing 250 pounds would lose 37 pounds, reduce her blood pressure and risk for diabetes, increase good cholesterol by 21 percent and reduce bad cholesterol by 18 percent.
the VVUS pipeline...
VVUS also sells MUSE, a minimally invasive therapy for erectile dysfunction. VVUS also has Avanafil in the trial pipeline which is in phase 3 studies to treat erectile dysfunction; and Luramist, for which the phase 2 study is completed for the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women. VVUS has a development, licensing, and supply agreement with Tanabe Seiyaku Co., Ltd. for the development of Avanafil; and licensing agreements with Acrux and its subsidiary to develop and, if approved, commercialize Luramist in the U.S.
At $12.35, VVUS is far ahead of its 52-week high of $9 set on 09-09-08 and its 52-week low of $2.72 set on 03-10-09. At $12.35, VVUS is ahead of both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. VVUS has trailing twelve month revenues of $91 million. VVUS is widely held by institutions. It shares out versus float ratio is near-parity.
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