IDM Pharma, Inc. (IDMI)

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IDMI news - IDM Pharma Up
Friday May 25, 5:23 pm ET
IDM Pharma Rises After Cantor Analyst Says Cancer Drug Could Reach Shelves in 2007

NEW YORK (AP) -- IDM Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares gained ground Friday after a Cantor Fitzgerald analyst predicted the stock will quadruple over the next year after the company launches a cancer drug.
A Food and Drug Administration panel recommended against approving Junovan, which treats the most common type of bone cancer, earlier this month. The panel said a late-stage trial does not show the drug is effective. Nevertheless, analyst Pamela Bassett expects the drug to be approved and launched in the U.S. by the end of the year.

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"We view Junovan as a product platform with potential to become a broadly used immunotherapeutic to treat metastatic disease in multiple cancers, a substantial unmet clinical need," she said in a note to clients. Junovan is designed to treat the disease in adolescents, and Bassett expects high demand from pediatricians.

Even if Junovan is not approved, she said, the stock is trading at a discount.

IDM also is developing Bexidem, a bladder cancer treatment, and three drugs to prevent tumors from recurring in patients with melanoma, colorectal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

The stock rose 54 cents, or 20.5 percent, to $3.18.