The Friendly Money Making Board

[Jagman]

Unlike AIS, Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc (KERX) investors are going to be in for a longer wait. KERX is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of medically important pharmaceutical products for the treatment of life-threatening diseases, including cancer and renal disease. KERX actually has two drugs in the pipeline but it will be Perifosine, which is their oral anti-cancer drug that has investors excited. The drug is designed to treat advanced colorectal cancer. Perifosine was derived from a commercial license agreement in 2002 with Zentaris AG, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of AEterna Zentaris Inc. One of the Phase 3 trials dealing with the colorectal cancer aspect is set to have its primary completion date by December of 2011 and the study is set to be completed by February of 2012. Perifosine’s second Phase 3 study dealing with multiple myelomas and does not have its primary completion date until September 2012 and a study completion date of October 2012. In addition to these ongoing Phase 3 studies, the KERX is also exploring the drug in Phase 1 and 2 clinical development trials for several other tumor types.

This longer wait on results will obviously weigh on investors, but if finally successful the market for KERX will be huge. For example, the American Cancer Society states that colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer diagnosed in the United States. It is estimated that over 141,000 people will be diagnosed with some form of colorectal cancer in the United States, with over 49,000 patients dying from colorectal cancer in 2011. As Perisosine is intended to be used on a wide variety of cancers, one can see that this company might well be worth the wait.

Recently the company released 2nd quarter financial statements where they stated that the company had cash equivalents, interest receivable and investment securities of $52.5 million, as compared to $28.5 million at December 31, 2010. In May 2011, the company completed an underwritten registered offering of common stock, which provided proceeds to the company of approximately $30.8 million. The net loss for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011, was $3.1 million, compared to a net loss of $5.2 million for the second quarter in 2010, representing a decrease in net loss of $2.1 million. Management also stated that since the solidifying of the balance sheet with cash from the registered offering, they believe they are well capitalized to execute on their business plan.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/290960-biopharma-the-waiting-is-the-hardest-part?source=yahoo