I’m not happy to hear about this kind of thing, but I can’t say that it’s a surprise, either. Pfizer is going to be having a rough time of it for years to come, what with the Lipitor patent expiration coming closer. And as fate would have it, the company will get to feel that one about as hard as possible, because the various things that were going to cushion the blow haven’t worked out so well.

So let's put this into some tangible numbers. This means that the market for HRPC encompasses 37,200 patients per year. Assuming pricing inline with most cancer biologics, ~$40,000 a year, and using a basic model of risk adjusted net present value we hit $825 million, for a $40 dollar value per share. Not too shabby.

To take a small step back, the short interest is a barometer of bearish investors in a stock. These are people (oftentimes hedge funds) who think shares are gonna go down and position themselves to make money if/when they do.

An NPV analysis of MedImmune’s products suggests the criticisms levelled at AstraZeneca for over-paying are likely to continue. The total NPV of all products acquired from MedImmune amount to $8.21bn, still only half of the acquisition price, according to EvaluatePharma’s NPV Analyzer. Although last week’s announcement that MedImmune’s long-standing chief executive David Mott is leaving the company was attributed to “personal reasons”, could it be a sign that the relationship is straining under the pressure to deliver on its high expectations?

The drug maker's annual meeting was thrown into chaos on Wednesday after founder and largest shareholder Eugene Melnyk tried to delay the meeting by withdrawing his participation. Mr. Melnyk is leading a group of dissident shareholders trying to replace the company board with their own slate.

True, Mipomersen has already proven to reverse atherosclerotic plaques in the murine model at unprecedented efficacy (up to 92%). It has also been able to lower lipid levels never achieved with traditional medicines in patients afflicted with homozygous hyperlipidemea.

Do you expect 2008 will be a strong year for biotech stocks?

Currently, India conducts about 1.5 percent of the global clinical trials. This could rise to five percent by end of 2008 and 15 percent by 2011.  Outsourced pharmaceutical manufacturing activity in India is expected to cross $1bn by 2010 (Motilal Oswal Report).   

One of the serious side effects of any potent therapy is the drop of blood sugar levels below safe levels or hypoglycemia. If a product is equally safe and efficacious, it will have a tough time beating Insulin unless it is more convenient. This is an over simplification of the many problems these patients face but it may be useful as a set of guiding principles when picking a stock.

In contrast, the USMCI researchers, based at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, have been investigating novel peptide vaccines as a preventive therapy for patients who have been treated for breast cancer and have a high risk of recurrence. In particular, the researchers have focused their efforts on two impressive peptide vaccines.