12:06 ET ******
Liposome (LIPO) 14 unch: When I last wrote about LIPO on this page
(9/17), it was at $17 and headed lower as FDA had just voted against
approving the company's Evacet drug for the treatment of metastatic
breast cancer... At that time we noted that the street would jump ship in
response to the news and the stock would test the 12-10 area... Well, it
did that and more, falling to 6 5/16... But now LIPO is on the rise again...
Benefitting from a surge of interest in the biotech industry, LIPO is up 15%
year-to-date and 121% from its low... Stock's rebound not just a result of
group sympathy play, however, as LIPO recently announced that it would
post better than expected earnings when it reports results on 2/8...
Company expects to deliver Q4 gain of $0.09-$0.12 v. consensus
estimate of $0.08... For the full year, company sees gain of $0.30-$0.33,
making FY99 the first profitable year in the company's history... Also
represents the fifth straigth quarter of profitability - something most of
today's high-flying biotech stocks can't say... Record quarterly sales of the
company's anitfungal drug, Abelcet, driving better than expected growth...
Cost-saving also helping the bottom-line, but much of those savings come
from not having to spend money on roll out of Evacet, which isn't the best
of news... Going forward, company must broaden its product line to win
back favor on the street... And there's potentially good news on that front
as well... Management announced that met with the FDA and elected to
resubmit the Evacet following completion of additional analyses suggested
by the agency... If the drug wins approval on this go around, stock will
soar... Should be noted that Evacet remains under review by the
European and Canadian regulatory agencies... LIPO expects decision on
these regulatory filings by year's end... Any further encouragement on this
front likely to propel stock back to the 20 area... LIPO included on
Briefing.com's list of 10 Biotechs for the Next 10 Years.-- RW |
