Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) - Co reports a November consolidated load factor of 80.7%, 2.0 points above last year's November consolidated load factor. The carrier reported a mainline load factor of 81.1%, 2.1 points above the November 2005 mainline load factor, and a domestic mainline load factor of 84.2%, 3.0 points above November 2005. All three were records for the month. In addition, the airline had an international mainline load factor of 77.4%, 1.1 points above November 2005.
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) - Co says that in the interests of patient safety it is stopping all torcetrapib clinical trials and that it has informed the FDA. PFE is in the process of notifying all clinical investigators in the program as well as other regulatory authorities. The co was informed Dec. 2 that the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board monitoring the ILLUMINATE morbidity and mortality study for torcetrapib recommended terminating the study because of an imbalance of mortality and cardiovascular events. PFE has terminated ILLUMINATE and is in the process of asking all clinical investigators conducting trials in this development program to inform patient participants to stop taking the study medication immediately. PFE has also ended the development program for this compound. N.B. - All the majors are out with a downgrade this morning.
(NASDAQ: BIDU) Baidu.com to enter Japanese search market in 2007.
Rodman & Renshaw upgrades Gilead Sciences (GILD 65.22) to Market Outperform from Market Perform with a $76 tgt, saying Gilead is poised to benefit from the recent CDC recommendation for routine HIV testing in all individuals in the US between the ages of 13 and 64 with a voluntary opt-out policy and are significantly increasing our expectations for sales of Atripla on the basis of their analysis of prescription trends since launch.
AG Edwards upgrades Altera (ALTR 19.58) to Buy from Hold and $24 tgt, based on the resolution of its accounting issues, brought its financial filings up to date and resolved its supply issues.
Akamai Tech (NASDAQ: AKAM) initiated with an Outperform at Cowen and Co.
Courtesy of Briefing.com
2 comments:
If Pfizer "got on it", they could tender an offer for the BEST HDL drug that has ben approved for almost 9 years. ER niacin / Niaspan. Clinicians with experience will tell you they are quite successful at utilizing this higher-maintenence medication with a 50+ year safety record, once rovided with useful patient education information. The pipeline for the company, KOS, is SUPERB. It would alter ABBOTT`s plans as the only Big Pharm Phirm with a viable HDL increasing medication with at least a 2 year window before any competitive presence would be "up & running': RE: Roche, eserion/Pfizer/ec. With the ABBOTT offer @ $78, Pfizer could counter before the deal closes next week midnite the 11th. Certainly worth consideration. The ultra-specialized sales force also would have some potential value in the purchase, as insiders know they market one of the most difficult Rx`s to motivate a Dr to prescribe. The reps are known to provide a highly science-based, technical 'sell', far more sophisticated than the "Ken & Barbie" reps that predominate within the industry and these are likely the type of reps that PFE is about to let go. This would save a lot of training and transition time by NOT repeating PFE history & letting go the only pre-existing sales force that can actually sell this hard to promote drug. Mental Floss.
Merry X-Mas.
Great stuff, thanks for the insights!
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