Betty:
Talked to RW at VVUS on Friday. Wanted to know if there had been any news that I had missed. He didn't know of any. There was a rumor that something was posted on Reuters, but if it was, I couldn't find it. My confidence in this company is slowly beginning to increase. I do not consider it as great a speculation as I have in the past. We talked for about 30 minutes on Friday, and things are slowly coming together for VVUS. There is nothing new to repost that the L/T longs on this thread are not already aware of.
Country approvals: who knows?? My guess is that we will see Italy in the fourth quarter. But it's not up to me, or VVUS, but to the Italians. We'll hear about it when it happens. The e-mail I received from AZ stated that they were going to be launching Spain & the Netherlands shortly. From this I conclude that they're not waiting for Italy to launch in other countries.
VVUS and AZ had a meeting set up for last week in NJ. The hurricane prevented either party from attending. Believe they were going to review production/sales requirements. AZ would like to see VVUS ramp up production in a big way, fill their order, and that's that. VVUS wants to avoid any layoffs, hence, they are negotiating for a smoother order flow. More consistency, and less of an impact on VVUS employees. When I talked to Dan Shields a few weeks ago, I asked him about layoffs, and he emphatically stated that they wanted to avoid them.
Press releases, news items, etc. VVUS has very nominal information that they could release. A lot of companies out there release this kind of "news." Generally nickel & dime news. The day traders love it. They get the action they need to make a profit. That is the main reason VVUS has avoided releasing any. VVUS has no news to release that hasn't already been released that is of any significance. What they don't care for is the "pumping & dumping" this stock has experienced in the past.
US marketing partner. Same as before. When somebody comes to the table with a proposal that VVUS can live with, they'll have a done deal. To date, nobody has done so to the satisfaction of VVUS. Numerous companies would like to take a shot at marketing MUSE in the US on a best efforts basis. VVUS finds this unacceptable.
The only reason I can find for the price increase Friday has to do with the end of the third quarter. Management at VVUS has already mentioned in previous CC's what their expectations are. They are on track to meet those expectations.
The call on Friday was unusual in a way. Over the past year I've called RW & Dan Shields at VVUS several times. A lot of times, I'll be doing an analysis, ask one question, say thanks, and hang up. Friday's call was that blunt on VVUS's end. Here's what's going on, here's what we think, thanks for calling, good bye. Covered a LOT of ground. I keep telling them VVUS is a "black sheep," being able to fund their own R&D without a big brother controlling the purse strings. They just laugh. VVUS has grown up a lot in the past two years. Numerous other biotechs would have ceased to exist. IMHO, it's still a speculation, but at present, I'd have to say that I don't feel as if I'm as far out on a limb as was the case six - nine months ago. Either that, or the winds not blowing as hard. Helps to be diversified. Regards to all.
PS: I've decided not to post the AZ letter for two reasons: (1): It contains no new news. (2) I'm already tired after posting this. I'll forward the e-mails to VVUS. If they feel anything AZ told me is newsworthy, I'll let them release it. |
