[I thought I would post an article about this company since they're involved in the ACS space and I hadn't seen anything about them in your 'Anticoagulant' tab. I'm assuming the answer to the question in the headline of the article is presumably "no." ; )
I posted on the company originally in #msg-47053947 where I speculated that they may have in-licensed at least a few of their drugs (typically a turn-off for me for a small-cap biotech).
Anthera Pharmaceuticals held its initial public offering in March and the company's stock stumbled out of the starting blocks. At Wednesday's closing price of $4.16, the stock is down about 40% from its IPO price of $7.
Anthera was brought public by venture capital firms VantagePoint and Sofinnova, both of which remain the company's largest shareholders. Anthera is currently conducting Phase-3 clinical trials for a potential drug aimed at treating acute coronary syndrome (ACS). In addition, the company has a lupus treatment that's currently in Phase-2 trials.
With that in mind, we're here to answer readers' questions: Should you buy it? Does Anthera's clinical pipeline hold value at these discounted levels, or should investors take a pass on the stock?
The writing may have been wall for Anthera early on (given the pricing of the IPO). A week before the offering, the deal was expected to go for $13 to $15 a share, but the company and its bankers ultimately settled for $7. As a result of raising only $42 million in its IPO, management quickly went back into the market in September for another $31.5 million private placement.
In June, Anthera started enrolling patients for a Phase-3 trial of its ACS treatment, varespladib. Patients will be treated with the drug for 16 weeks following an initial case of ACS, the point at which they are most at risk for another cardiovascular event. Varespladib has the potential to be the first drug approved in this space.
As for its lupus treatment (dubbed A-623), Anthera is looking to build upon the breakthrough that Human Genome Sciences made in 2009 with its new treatment, Benlysta. In addition, the company has received orphan-drug and fast-track status for its treatment of acute chest syndrome in patients with sickle-cell disease that is also in Phase-2 studies. Anthera likely does not have enough cash on hand to finish these two trials. Even so, the company may seek a marketing partner, rather than going back to investors for more equity, which could further dilute the stock.
In the meantime, it's worth noting that Anthera insiders have found value in the stock at current levels. Three insiders, including Chief Financial Officer Christopher Lowe, purchased a total of 261,000 shares of the company on the open market in late September. The stock traded as low as $2.82 on Sept. 17.
The insider buying could be viewed as a sign of confidence from management and that the shares have limited downside potential. Even so, I believe that investors should avoid this stock at current levels.
The company has some potential winners in its clinical pipeline, but it lacks near-term catalysts and will likely need more money to complete its current trials.
[Phase-2a data for Regado’s RB006/RB007 (thanks, RockRat) and musings on the competitive threat to MNTA.]
See MNTA ReadMeFirst for info on Lovenox and M118.
General information #msg-51227061How large is the anticoagulant market? #msg-26451612 VTE is a big, big problem (Lancet 2008) #msg-53285442 Clinical overview of the new oral anticoagulants (Blood) #msg-53493902 Drug-design overview of the new oral anticoagulants (C&EN) #msg-26701803 Technical overview of traditional anticoagulants
Pradaxa (dabigatran) #msg-51498625 Musings on Pradaxa in various indications #msg-54614812 FDA panel backs Pradaxa for AF/stroke prevention #msg-41018490 Pradaxa bests warfarin in AF/stroke prevention (Reuters) #msg-41014644 Pradaxa bests warfarin in AF/stroke prevention (WSJ) #msg-41024424 Pradaxa bests warfarin in AF/stroke prevention (Forbes) #msg-27956748 EU approves Pradaxa for VTE prevention #msg-32382343 NICE approves reimbursement for VTE prevention #msg-51315844 Non-inferior to Lovenox in VTE prevention (RE-NOVATE 2) #msg-21155926 Non-inferior to Lovenox in VTE prevention (RE-NOVATE) #msg-44244839 Phase-3 Pradaxa data in acute VTE (ASH 2009) #msg-25152872 BI starts phase-2 trial in ACS
Xarelto (rivaroxaban) #msg-53887547 Xarelto matches Lovenox/warfarin in acute DVT #msg-47110232 Response to FDA in VTE prevention due 2H10 #msg-44245112 Troublesome bleeding in VTE extension study #msg-30972846 EMEA approves Xarelto for VTE prevention #msg-34103973 Phase-3 data in VTE prevention (JNJ PR) #msg-29661234 Phase-3 data in VTE prevention (Reuters) #msg-31857009 Bayer accelerates Xarelto development in ACS, but… #msg-39151366 ...Xarelto still has a long way to go in ACS! #msg-33517140 Phase-2 data in ACS #msg-29662519 Checklist rationale for Xarelto program
Apixaban #msg-54576974 Phase-3 succeeds in warfarin-free AF/stroke prevention #msg-47461590 ADVANCE-2 in VTE prevention succeeds, but… #msg-31742223 ADVANCE-1 in VTE prevention fails #msg-29928836 Phase-3 trials begin for VTE treatment #msg-32024540 Tepid phase-2 results in ACS #msg-19134406 PFE, BMY ink $1B deal to co-develop Apixaban
Betrixaban #msg-39418241 MRK licenses betrixaban (WSJ) #msg-39388813 MRK licenses betrixaban (MRK/Portola PR) #msg-47847796 Phase-2 safety data vs warfarin in AF #msg-21106352 Phase-2 data vs Lovenox in VTE prevention
Edoxaban #msg-48661173 Daiichi Sankyo files for approval in Japan #msg-46218043 Largest-ever phase-3 begins in VTE prevention #msg-34100821 Phase-3 begins in AF #msg-34100787 Comparable safety to warfarin in AF (phase-2) #msg-31950663 Phase-2 data in VTE prevention after hip surgery
Darexaban (YM150) #msg-55022218 Astellas seeks approval for VTE prevention in Japan #msg-55025487 Overview of Darexaban programs in various indications
Miscellaneous (in alphabetical order) #msg-41143344 Ablynx starts phase-2 of ALX-0081 in PCI #msg-40720487 Ablynx phase-1 ALX-0681 results in healthy volunteers #msg-54742945 Arixtra is wasteful in treatment of SVT #msg-10569101 Arixtra bests Lovenox in ACS (2006 study) #msg-39348082 ARYX’s Tecarfarin whiffs in phase-3 #msg-36811828 AZN reports phase-2 data for AZD0837 #msg-30965016 LLY terminates FXa program #msg-30353872 MYRX MPC-0920 begins phase-1 #msg-31461171 NUVO reports phase-1b data for NU172 #msg-46648382 Otamixaban ho-hum in phase-2 ACS study #msg-27187973 Paion’s Solulin completes phase-1 #msg-28742653 Paion acquires flovagatran rights #msg-50887012 PYMX phase-1b data for Lovenox reversal #msg-53193787 PYMX phase-1b/2a data for heparin reversal #msg-55348772 Regado’s phase-2a data for RB006/RB007 #msg-55640856 Musings on Regado’s threat to MNTA’s M118 #msg-46648462 Sanofi’s stable of anticoagulant aspirants #msg-53375883 Takeda’s TAK-442 in ACS and VTE prevention #msg-52169431 TB-402 (FVIII inh) bests Lovenox in VTE prevention #msg-37562465 Warfarin genetic test rejected by Medicare
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