MedImmune, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the expanded use of FluMist(R) (Influenza Virus Vaccine Live, Intranasal) in children two to five years of age. FluMist is now approved for active immunization for the prevention of disease caused by influenza A and B viruses in individuals two to 49 years of age. Only one manufacturer had previously been licensed in the United States to produce influenza vaccine for children under four years of age.
FluMist is a live attenuated influenza virus vaccine indicated for active immunization of individuals two to 49 years of age against influenza disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and type B contained in the vaccine.
MedImmune is wholly owned by AstraZeneca. AZN ended today's trading all square at 48.21 a share.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Stocks soar on fed news....Will BioTech take advantage?
A jubilant Wall Street barreled higher Tuesday after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a larger-than-expected half percentage point. The Dow Jones industrial average reacted by surging 335 points -- its biggest one-day point jump in nearly five years.
Although some investors hoped for a rate cut of that magnitude, most were betting on a smaller, quarter-point cut in the federal funds rate. The Fed responded to the spilling of credit market problems into the rest of the economy by saying, "the tightening of credit conditions has the potential to intensify the housing (market) correction and to restrain economic growth more generally."
The Fed lowered the benchmark fed funds rate to 4.75 percent after keeping it unchanged for more than a year and not lowering the rate since 2003. It also reduced the discount rate -- what it charges banks borrowing from its discount window -- by a half percentage point to 5.25 percent. On Aug. 17, the central bank lowered the discount rate by a half-point to help keep cash moving in the U.S. banking system.
The central bank's decision and the wording of its accompanying economic assessment gratified a market that plunged during August amid fears that credit market tightness, spawned by a continuum of mortgage defaults and delinquencies, would send the economy toward recession.
There was no direct signal in the Fed's statement that it would make further rate cuts. It said "some inflation risks remain" and that it will keep monitoring inflation developments. Still, it did not call inflation its "predominant policy concern" as it did after holding rates steady in early August.
"What it says to me is you had a major shift in the last couple of months from a Fed that was very concerned about inflation to one that is concerned about the health of the financial months from a markets, the availability of liquidity," said Jerry Webman, chief economist at Oppenheimer Funds Inc.
Big Pharma has a lot of cash, will they spend it? ANDS sure could use a bolster of milestone payments for it's pipeline.
I love the quote "last couple of months from a Fed that was very concerned about inflation to one that is concerned about the health of the financial months from a markets, the availability of liquidity,"
I've been trying to get to full liquidity for a long, long, time.
Although some investors hoped for a rate cut of that magnitude, most were betting on a smaller, quarter-point cut in the federal funds rate. The Fed responded to the spilling of credit market problems into the rest of the economy by saying, "the tightening of credit conditions has the potential to intensify the housing (market) correction and to restrain economic growth more generally."
The Fed lowered the benchmark fed funds rate to 4.75 percent after keeping it unchanged for more than a year and not lowering the rate since 2003. It also reduced the discount rate -- what it charges banks borrowing from its discount window -- by a half percentage point to 5.25 percent. On Aug. 17, the central bank lowered the discount rate by a half-point to help keep cash moving in the U.S. banking system.
The central bank's decision and the wording of its accompanying economic assessment gratified a market that plunged during August amid fears that credit market tightness, spawned by a continuum of mortgage defaults and delinquencies, would send the economy toward recession.
There was no direct signal in the Fed's statement that it would make further rate cuts. It said "some inflation risks remain" and that it will keep monitoring inflation developments. Still, it did not call inflation its "predominant policy concern" as it did after holding rates steady in early August.
"What it says to me is you had a major shift in the last couple of months from a Fed that was very concerned about inflation to one that is concerned about the health of the financial months from a markets, the availability of liquidity," said Jerry Webman, chief economist at Oppenheimer Funds Inc.
Big Pharma has a lot of cash, will they spend it? ANDS sure could use a bolster of milestone payments for it's pipeline.
I love the quote "last couple of months from a Fed that was very concerned about inflation to one that is concerned about the health of the financial months from a markets, the availability of liquidity,"
I've been trying to get to full liquidity for a long, long, time.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Imclone clinical trial endpoint met, Stock gains momentum
NEW YORK - Positive results from a study involving Imclone Systems Inc.'s cancer drug Erbitux is raising the company's market value by nearly a quarter Tuesday, but some think it will take a lot longer before any effect is seen on the company's bottomline.
A study released this morning from Imclone's overseas marketing partner for Erbitux, Merck KGaA (MRK.XE), met its primary endpoint of increased survival rates in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer when used in combination with chemotherapy. That type of lung cancer currently has limited treatment options and would add another market for the drug.
Remember that Erbitux was one of the first targeted drug therapies using monoclonal antibodies. Erbitux is targeted to the epidermal growth factor receptor family of proteins that are located on the cell surface. Once bound, the antibody neutralizes the signaling pathways that the receptors use to tell the cell to grow.
IMCL stock closed trading today +6.97 or 18% in afternoon trading and another 23 cents upward in after hours trading.
A study released this morning from Imclone's overseas marketing partner for Erbitux, Merck KGaA (MRK.XE), met its primary endpoint of increased survival rates in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer when used in combination with chemotherapy. That type of lung cancer currently has limited treatment options and would add another market for the drug.
Remember that Erbitux was one of the first targeted drug therapies using monoclonal antibodies. Erbitux is targeted to the epidermal growth factor receptor family of proteins that are located on the cell surface. Once bound, the antibody neutralizes the signaling pathways that the receptors use to tell the cell to grow.
IMCL stock closed trading today +6.97 or 18% in afternoon trading and another 23 cents upward in after hours trading.
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