Zacks on Access Pharmaceuticals: MuGard sales continued to grow in 1Q12 and will keep current momentum; Outperform (ACCP)

Access Pharmaceuticals (ACCP) is an emerging biopharmaceutical company specializing in products for cancer and supportive care. Access currently has one FDA-approved product, two products in Phase II clinical development, three products in preclinical development. Several of the company's products are based on Access' proprietary nanopolymer technologies which provide enhanced drug delivery options for both new and approved pharmaceutical active ingredients.

Zacks.com has released a report on Access Pharmaceuticals entitled "MuGard sales continued to grow in 1Q12 and will keep current momentum." Zacks maintains an "Outperform" rating on ACCP but lowers the price target. 

Purchase the report online at AlacraStore.com. 

UPDATE: New Speaker at "The Age Of 'Big Data' In Bioscience Is Here, But Are We Prepared For It?" Panel Discussion in NYC on June 7, 2012

The panel discussion entitled "The Age of Big Data in Bioscience is Here, But are we prepared for it?" will be held June 7, 2012 at K&L Gates, LLP, located at 599 Lexington Ave. - 32d Floor - Seminar Room, New York, NY. It is hosted by the MIT Enterprise Forum Of NYC and LES NYC. See more information about the panel discussion here. 

UPDATE: Wanmei Ou Ph.D., Healthcare Product Strategist for Oracle Health Sciences will be speaking instead of Brett Davis, Senior Director of Oracle Health Sciences. See Wanmei's biography below:

"Wanmei Ou Ph.D. is a Healthcare Product Strategist in Oracle’s Health Sciences Global Business Unit responsible for the Translational Research Center solution. She works closely with leaders in healthcare and life sciences to understand their requirements and transform them into development activities shaping the product functions. In addition to this product strategy role, she is also an R&D liaison with multiple research laboratories in bioinformatics and natural language processing. 

Prior to joining Oracle, Wanmei obtained a Ph.D. degree in computer sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with focus on biomedical imaging. While completing this work, she worked closely with scientists at both Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She also received the NSF Graduate Research and the Advanced Multimodal Neuroimaging fellowships during her graduate studies. Previous industry experience includes work at Siemens Corporate Research where she received a U.S. patent on her work on multimodal image registration. She also worked as a programmer analyst at the New York Blood Center focusing on population genetics." 

Read more at mitef-nyc.org. 

Islet Sciences Announces Participation at the 2012 American Transplant Congress (ISLT)

Islet Sciences, Inc., (OTCBB: ISLT) is a development-stage biotechnology company with patented technologies focused on transplantation therapy for people with insulin-dependent diabetes. The Company's transplantation technology includes methods for the culturing, isolation, maturation, and immunoprotection (microencapsulation) of islet cells. The Company's mission includes the introduction of commercial products with applications to cell-based replacement therapy in the healthcare marketplace.

The company has announced that it will be presenting at the upcoming 12th Joint Annual Meeting of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the American Transplantation (2012 American Transplant Congress).

The event will be held from June 2nd - June 6th at the John B. Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA. Islet Sciences will present an update on work with their xenotransplantation model for islet transplantation on June 5, 2012 at 5:30 PM ET. Read more at PRNewswire.com. 

Overview of the American Transplant Congress (ATC), from 2012.atcmeeting.org: 

• "To provide a forum for exchange of new scientific and clinical information relevant to solid organ and tissue transplantation.
• To create an arena for the interchange of ideas regarding care and management of organ and tissue transplant recipients.
• To facilitate discussions of the socioeconomic, ethical and regulatory issues related to solid organ and tissue transplantation.

A variety of formats are planned that will encourage the exchange of new scientific and clinical information and support an interchange of opinions regarding care and management issues, as well as socioeconomic, ethical, and regulatory issues relevant to organ and tissue transplantation.

Scientific material will be presented through symposia, oral abstracts, concurrent workshops, and poster presentations as well as small group sessions designed for in-depth exploration of both clinical and basic science topics." Read more at 2012.atcmeeting.org. 

Prima BioMed to Host Shareholder Briefing ($PBMD)

Prima BioMed Ltd (PRR.AX) (PBMD) is a globally active and listed (ASX, NASDAQ) biotechnology company focused on developing novel oncology therapies in the field of immunotherapy.  Prima BioMed has a clear strategy to develop and commercialize therapeutic vaccine CVac™ in ovarian cancer with an opportunity to expand to other indications. CVac™ has been tested successfully in two clinical studies and is currently in late stage clinical development in Australia, USA and Europe. Long term goal of Prima BioMed is the development of commercial cancer therapies on a worldwide scale. 

The company has advised that it will hold a shareholder briefing with the Company's CEO designate Matthew Lehman, current CEO Martin Rogers, Chairman Lucy Turnbull, and Deputy Chairman Albert Wong in Sydney, Australia, on Friday, 15 June 2012. 

The briefing will provide an opportunity for Mr. Lehman to meet shareholders and deliver an update on the Company's activities.

Mr. Lehman, who is currently Prima's Chief Operating Officer, will become the Company's CEO effective 1 September 2012 (see ASX announcement of 24 May).

Details of the shareholder briefing:

Date: 
Friday, 15 June 2012

Time: 
9:30am to 11:00am AEST (local time)

Venue: 
Radisson Blu Hotel Sydney 
27 O'Connell St Sydney (Marble Room 2 and 3)

Shareholders outside Sydney will be able to access the briefing via a webcast and dial-in facility. Webcast and dial-in details will be provided on the Prima BioMed and ASX websites prior to the meeting.

Shareholders, and other interested parties, are kindly requested to RSVP to  enquiries@primabiomed.com.au prior to the event to assist in planning the meeting. Shareholders are also encouraged to submit questions or comments via email prior to the meeting.

Prima has updated the Company Calendar section of its website to include this shareholder briefing and other relevant upcoming public presentations.

Read more at Yahoo Finance. 

Biotech and related conferences in June 2012

June 2012 is a busy month for biotech and related conferences. Below are a few of the conferences taking place:

International Society for Cellular Therapy Annual Meeting 

Date: June 5-8, 2012

Venue: Sheraton Seattle, Seattle, WA

http://www.celltherapysociety.org/index.php/meetings-events/isct-2012-annual-meeting

SeeThruEquity.com SmailCap Equity Conference - sponsored by ProActive Capital

Date: June 5, 2012

Venue: The Cornell Club

http://www.seethruequity.com/content/2012-06-05-conference.aspx

 

National Investment Banking Association Conference

 

Date: June 7-8, 2012

Venue: Le Parker Meridien Hotel, New York, NY

http://nibanet.org/conferences/niba-june-7-8-2012-new-york-ny-conference

International Society for Stem Cell Research 10th Annual Meeting

 

Date: June 13-16, 2012

Venue: Pacifico Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan

http://www.isscr.org/Annual_Meeting_Home.htm

 

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) International Conference

 

Date: June 18-21, 2012,

Venue: Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Boston, MA

http://convention.bio.org/

 

Alliance for Regenerative Medicine - Clinical Outlooks for Regenerative Medicine 2012

 

Date: June 19, 2012

Venue: The Starr Center, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Boston, MA

http://www.hsci.harvard.edu/node/4162

Marcum's Inaugural MicroCap Conference

Date: June 20, 2012

Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel, New York, NY

http://www.marcumllp.com/events/microcap-conference

Keryx a Buy @ The Motley Fool (KERX)

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: KERX) is focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of medically important pharmaceutical products for the treatment of renal disease. Keryx is developing ZerenexTM (ferric citrate), an oral, ferric iron-based compound that has the capacity to bind to phosphate and form non-absorbable complexes. The Phase 3 clinical program of ZerenexTM for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia (elevated phosphate levels) in patients with end-stage renal disease is being conducted pursuant to a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the FDA. 

At The Motley Fool, contributor Jordo Bivona writes that "There is no shame in wanting to find cheap investments that pay off in the long run. The trouble is it can be tough to tell what is worth your money and what is cheap simply because it is worthless." In some cases, like Keryx, "the prices are low, but the stocks are worth a great deal. For these stocks, now is the time to buy and hang on until something major happens and the prices soar."

About Keryx, he writes,

"Keryx (NASDAQ: KERX) is currently selling for around $1.50 and has been floundering, primarily because its flagship drug perifosine failed its latest round of clinical trials. The drug was intended to offer a new treatment option for those suffering from colorectal cancer. When it did not live up to expectations, Keryx plummeted more than 60% and continues to fall.

...The company still has approximately $30 million in cash to fund operations, and a quarterly burn rate of around $4 million to $6 million, depending on research demands. For the company to succeed with Zerenex, it needs successful trials in its fourth quarter and a new drug application from the FDA. Recently, the stock saw a 22% gain on news of a successful clinical trial for Zerenex that was completed in Japan. Thus, this stock may be down, but it is definitely not out."

Read more at beta.fool.com. 

Hope Springs Eternal In Biotech @ Seeking Alpha (KERX)

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: KERX) is focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of medically important pharmaceutical products for the treatment of renal disease. Keryx is developing ZerenexTM (ferric citrate), an oral, ferric iron-based compound that has the capacity to bind to phosphate and form non-absorbable complexes. The Phase 3 clinical program of ZerenexTM for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia (elevated phosphate levels) in patients with end-stage renal disease is being conducted pursuant to a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the FDA. Keryx is headquartered in New York City. 

At Seeking Alpha, contributor Michael J. Ray writes that while it is true that hope is not the best strategy when it comes to investing, "there is one sector that does embrace hope as an investing component and that sector is speculative biotech." He argues that it is patients' hope for a cure that "highlight[s] unmet medical need, which in turn brings investors and researchers to the scene."

He points to Keryx's Perifosine as an example in which "the hope[s] of both investors and patients were dashed, and the stock price quickly declined." But he goes on to say that,

"Both KERX and BPAX are not completely out the game though. Each has other products in the pipeline, but their most touted opportunities came up empty. But this article is about hope, and hope is said to spring eternal."

He goes on to discuss 3 companies "keeping hope alive" for both patients and investors alike: Osiris Therapeutics (OSIR), Advanced Cell Technology Inc. (ACTC.OB), and Galena Biopharma, Inc. (GALE).

Read the full article at SeekingAlpha.com. 

CytoSorbents: A Quick Rebound Indicates Belief in Progress and Potential (CTSO)

CytoSorbents Corporation (OTCBB: CTSO) is a publicly-traded, critical care focused therapeutic device company using blood purification to treat life-threatening illnesses. Its purification technology is based on biocompatible, highly porous polymer beads that can actively remove toxic substances from blood and other bodily fluids by pore capture and surface adsorption. Each polymer bead contains millions of pores and channels that can be modified to remove substances as small as drugs, to substances as large as antibodies. 

At MarketPlayground.com, contributor VFC's StockHouse wrote an article analyzing the Company's recent share price drop and the possible reasons behind it.

He reminds investors,

"Cytosorbents is trucking along for a company its size and a technology that may be so good that doctors have to see it to believe it — and given that the European regulators were convinced to approve CytoSorb even before the final trial results were in, there’s a strong case to be made that the believers are out there."

He points out that in addition to moving forward with the commercial launch of CytoSorb, the Company is also making progress on other fronts, too: 

"The HemoDefend blood purification technology could help the company land a partner and lead to revenue while CytoSorb continues its roll-out, and the US Army has also jumped on board to support the company with the awarding of a grant late last year.

As those events unfold and pay dividends, 2012 could easily turn into another milestone year for CytoSorbents. The quick rebound from last week’s drop is a good indicator that there is a solid foundation of patient investors that believe the same and are willing to stick this one out."

 
Read more at MarketPlayground.com.