Has anyone read AssEncio's report on Zona v/s PFE?
After reading a number of his reports,
Some points I have noticed, AssEncio puts out strong sell recommendations after the short intrest has gone UP.
For someone who questions other peoples connections and accuracy, He basically makes much of the same mistakes.. AKA Viagra, NEW and SAFE drug developed by PFE. Someone should ask him what he means by new and what he means by safe.
He questions the effects of Vasomax on older patients, Well aint that a fact, most drugs dealling with sex of course work better with a 20 year old.
What really struck me was that with all the big technical words thrown around in his reports and his mention of accuracy and through research, If someone like me who basically has not done extensive research can find numerous faults, What does he base his accuracy and IN-DEPTH analysis on? Going through a companies trash does not constitute IN-DEPTH research to most people.
<<Asensio & Company is a New York based investment bank and securities brokerage firm. The firm specializes in conducting in-depth, fundamental equity research used for our proprietary trading and institutional brokerage business. The focus of our research is undervalued securities and short selling. In order for us to either buy or sell a security there must exist a very wide variance between our calculation of fair value and the securities' market price. We also engage in risk arbitrage. >>
Now I am biased about Assencio, I dont own stocks in any company hes short except VVUS and that also only recently. But I do follow companies like AVNT, I know some of the programmers there and although AVNT management might be money greedy like everyone else, I think a lot of whats said is false, Some people are GOOD enough to do the impossible in an impossible amount of time. Now I will admit some other companies I am not familair with like Diana might have been doing things they should not have. But Also maybe AssEncio got a little greedy in the process of making so much money that they started to skip and skimp a little research here and there and then release false information to suit their purposes.
asensio.com
He has a report on VVUS as well at asensio.com
If I was the CEO of VVUS, I woudl not give him any report either knowing full well he holds the largest short intrest in it.
AssEncio's report on Zona!
November 26, 1997
Asensio responds to false statements in Jeff Opdyke's article.
I am Manuel P. Asensio, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Asensio & Company, Inc. ("Asensio"). Asensio is an investment banking and securities broker-dealer registered with the NASD and SEC. One of our businesses is the publishing of comprehensive research reports on companies. We rate some of these companies as "grossly overvalued". We have conducted extensive research on Zonagen, Inc., have rated the company "grossly overvalued", and have written and published a report. Our report, and the definition of our "grossly overvalued" rating, is available on the Internet on the worldwide web at asensio.com
I am writing this at the request of Deborah Day of Multex Systems, Inc. Ms. Day advised me of Jeff Opdyke's story on Zonagen and offered me the opportunity to respond. Below is our response. But first, we have serious questions about Mr. Opdyke. Mr. Opdyke is a journalist with no known investment management experience. This is not the first time Mr. Opdyke has written a promotional story about Zonagen, which leads me to ask what are Mr. Opdyke's motives and intentions? Who paid him to write the Zonagen story at multex.com? Why did he leave The Wall Street Journal on April 30, 1997 after writing another promotional, fact-deficient story on Zonagen on April 9, 1997? Why did Cappy McGarr of McGarr Capital Management Corp. hire him? Does Mr. McGarr or his firm have any interest in Zonagen? Do any of Mr. McGarr's associates or friends have an interest in Zonagen? Mr. Garr knows Ross Perot. Does Mr. Garr have a relationship with Mr. Perot's Petrus Fund, C.P., a large, early Zonagen investor? Why did Mr. Opdyke fail to disclose his prior Zonagen writings or the answers to any of these questions?
Asensio is staunchly independent. No one tells us what to do. Our research has produced outstanding results. Our only asset is the completeness and correctness of our work. Our motives and intentions are open and clear. Below are our comments to the issues included in Mr. Opdyke's story.
Jeff Opdyke wrote: "In Phase III trials, the drug showed efficacy in about 40 percent of the men studied, including diabetic, cardiac patients and those with prostate problems-several of the drug's key markets."
Dr. Ray Rosen's presentation at the Pharmacologic Management of Male Sexual Dysfunction meetings in Los Angeles stated:
"The patients were all in the mild-to-moderate -- or let me say they were screened to be in the mild-to-moderate degree of erectile function. In fact, the screening was intended to recruit patients who've developed a mild erectile dysfunction, although the way this turned out many of the patients did in fact have moderate, some of them had fairly severe levels of erectile dysfunction -- the attempt to screen patients with mild ED was not highly successful; this is a negative in one sense, in that it makes the patient population more heterogeneous."
".but it shows no efficacy at all in patients with more severe degrees of ED."
Jeff Opdyke wrote: "The efficacy rate was higher in men over 50 - the true target audience."
Yet, again, Dr. Ray Rosen's stated the following about this Phase III study with higher reported efficacy:
"Basically, overall we did not find that the drug was more effective among older people. In fact, at the 40 milligram dose in these studies, it appears that there's somewhat of an advantage in the under-50 age group."
Jeff Opdyke wrote: "Along with its slightly cleaner side-effects profile, Vasomax's price is expected to be lower than Viagra, roughly $8 or $9 a pill vs. Viagra's estimated $20 price tag."
We believe that it is wholly absurd to in any way compare Viagra, a new, safe effective drug developed by Pfizer to Vasomax, a generic drug from a questionable company with questionable test results. In any case Mr. Opdyke is again plain wrong. Montgomery analyst, Leonard S. Yaffe, M.D., wrote in his Pfizer report (dated September 10, 1997) on the anticipated pricing for Viagra:
"In addition, anticipated pricing of $6 per pill will be well below the $10,000-15,000 cost of implant surgery or the $20-25 per-use cost of injection or insertion therapy."
Jeff Opdyke wrote: "Zonagen did change the primary endpoint between its Phase II and Phase III trials, but it did so with the full knowledge and consent of the FDA."
In response to CNBC's David Faber's question, "You're saying the endpoint wasn't changed from what might have been sexual intercourse to something different?", Joseph Podolski, Zonagen's President and CEO, stated: "No."
Jeff Opdyke wrote: "The hedge fund, it turns out, owns a short position in Zonagen's stock."
We are short because the facts in our reports are complete and correct. We are known for providing accurate analysis and well founded, non-problematic judgements. There is nothing unusual or wrong with our position or the publishing of the Zonagen report. It is what we know and what we do. What does Mr. Opdyke do? Does he have a hidden interest in Zonagen? Who pays him? Mr. Opdyke stopped writing for the Wall Street Journal's "Texas Journal" shortly after writing a promotional and factually incorrect article on Zonagen's prospects. He went to work at a Dallas-based hedge fund, McGarr Capital Management. Does McGarr have a direct or indirect interest in Zonagen?
Jeff Opdyke wrote: "Zonagen does, in fact, have patent protection. Specifically, Zonagen's 'method of use' covers the systemic delivery of phentolamine in a 'rapid-onset fashion.' "
Opdyke is wrong. Zonagen's patent clearly states:
"For purposes of the present invention, 'transmucosal delivery' generally refers to delivery of the drug to the oral or pharyngeal mucosa, and includes buccal delivery, sublingual delivery, and delivery to the pharyngeal mucosa, but not to the stomach."
Vasomax is a pill that is ingested, not placed under the tongue or between the cheek and the gums. Simply stated Mr. Opdyke is wrong and appears to have little or no knowledge of the subject.
Jeff Opdyke wrote: "As for the flap about its consultants-particularly Drs. Irwin Goldstein and Harin Padma-Nathan-they are the same consultants Pfizer is using. Why? Because they are some of the best impotence experts in the country."
The "flap' has nothing to do with their work for Pfizer. The "flap" is related to their public comments, conflict of interests and Zonagen trial work. In any case, Mr. Opdyke fails to disclose that Dr. Goldstein, and his former student, Dr. Padma-Nathan, are on several company payrolls. Dr. Goldstein has been a paid advisor to Pfizer, Vivus, Shwarz Pharma A.G., Zonagen, Macrochem, Senetek, and Harvard Scientific. In 1994, Dr, Goldstein published his study, Massachusetts Male Aging Study, a study which has been used to formulate an estimate of the size of the market. Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Padma-Nathan have a vested interest in inflating the size of the problem. Dr. Goldstein also owns an interest in a number of specialty clinics, Men's Health Centers, which specialize in treating ED. Dr. Goldstein is also the author of the theory that bicycle riding causes impotence. This theory has yet to be proven.
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