Shares of POZEN (NASDAQ: POZN) are higher today after analyst Brean Murray suggested that Pozen has become an even more attractive acquisition target following the firm's receipt of a $20 million milestone payment from AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) for the FDA's approval of arthritis and gastric ulcer drug Vimovo. Brean Murray belives that, following the FDA delaying approval for AstraZenaca's ulcer treatment Axanum, the pharma giant may want to snap up the $225-millions biotech.
As a whole, the Biotechnology Stocks Index is ahead by 2% today, led by Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), Protalix BioTherapeutics (AMEX: PLX), and Affymax (NASDAQ: AFFY).
Sector giants, Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) and Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG), are both near unchanged. Impax Laboratories (NASDAQ: IPXL) is a notable loser, slipping by -3%, while names like Repligen (NASDAQ: RGEN), United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR), vaccine player Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX), and molecular drug company Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL), are participating in the rally today, all moving up by 3% or more.
There also might be more upside for Pozen from here. According to the company press release, an additional $25 million milestone payment will be made to Pozen if Vimovo receives marketing approval in a major "ex-U.S." market. In total, Pozen could be in line to receive a total of $260 million (including milestone and sales royalties) from AstraZeneca.
It will be interesting to see where the stocks in the biotech segment go from here...