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Biotech / Medical : VVUS: VIVUS INC. (NASDAQ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: VLAD who wrote (13099)8/11/1998 10:18:00 PM
From: Jeff924  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 23519
 
Vlad, Just checked Yahoo research page showing earning for next year is reduced to $0.79 from 1.00, this may be the reason of breaking all time low today.
Thanks again for trading information provided yesterday.

Jeff



To: VLAD who wrote (13099)8/11/1998 10:26:00 PM
From: VLAD  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 23519
 
I thought I would right this post for those longs who are wondering if Vivus stock price has a decent chance to recover:

Currently IMO Vivus is like a cash cow.

All their "big spending" expenses are now things of the past. No more advertising campaign, no more new factory expenses, no more sales force salaries, no more stock buy backs. All the fat has been trimmed off the bone including cuts in administration and on the R&D level. Sounds like a company that is serious about getting its house in order and becoming profitable.

Vivus now has a new efficient factory and is selling all the MUSE it is capable of producing. Q2 unit production was the largest ever and it will continue to increase until Vivus can keep up with its orders from Janssen and Astra.

Vivus has no debt and according to their last earnings announcement as of June 30, 1998 "Cash, cash equivelents and available-for-sale securities totaled $25,400,000.00" Hardly a company that is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Last week script numbers showed the highest new MUSE script rate in 11 weeks but we are still dramatically below preViagra levels. Last weeks new Viagra script numbers were the lowest in 12 weeks and were 65% below its peak values. Much concern is mounting in relation to the safety of Viagra especially in CVD patients. Also, there is still a big unknown regarding retinal effects of Viagra after prolonged use. MUSE on the other hand has an excellent safety profile. Although not as convenient as Viagra, MUSE acts locally to produce erections whereas Viagra is an erection enhancer ie there must be some type of ability to achieve erection for it to work.
MUSE also has an advantage of having a much faster action than Viagra (5 minutes vs 1 hour) thus preserving spontaneous sex. Viagra in fact forces sex to become a preplaned activity.

The key to Vivus' success now lays in the hands of others. As Leeland Wilson stated in the Q2 conference call, "The success of Vivus' partners in launching MUSE worldwide has demonstrated the benefits of being a well know presence in the market place." Vivus hopes to realize the same benefits regarding forming a domestic partnership with a large pharmaceutical company of which Johnson & Johnson appears to be the most likely candidate. Although Vivus promises an announcement by years end, it appears that a decision should be made by this fiscal quarter's end.

Sign up a dometic partner and produce MUSE cheaply and in quantity. This is the game plan. The production part apparently has been solved and continues refinement. Get the partnership deal settled and signed and we are off to the races.

If you bought this stock at a much higher price and have any intention of giving it away for a much lower price, please reread this post and reconsider. Do not allow short term trading fluctuations to determine if you should sell or hold. Stick to the fundamentals as listed above.

VLAD



To: VLAD who wrote (13099)8/11/1998 11:09:00 PM
From: DRick3  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 23519
 
VLAD

Did you discuss production and do you have any confidence that the
two plants are actually producing and shipping in the volumes that
we have been led to believe by former posts?

If Vivus is actually shipping in the quantities assumed from two lines
at PACO and four lines in the new plant I would love to have
confirmation.

PS A friend just asked for a brief plant visit next Mon. and was turned down with a response that we don't do tours.

Thanks David



To: VLAD who wrote (13099)8/11/1998 11:15:00 PM
From: Tunica Albuginea  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 23519
 
VLAD, Re: Vivus shorts. Is it possible that the Vivus shorts are large institutions who own large amounts of PFE stock? In business you always want to cut down the competition. To these big institutions owning PFE stock is essentially like running a business.
It would be great for Viagra if there were no MUSE.So they short a small cap like MUSE.
I think however that these folks may be starting to panic now.
When the the likes of Harvard Medical School ( Massachusetts General Hospital is Harvard's main teaching hospital ), the American Heart Association and the American College of cardiology start blowing the danger horns you know there is something serious brewing here:

Message 5463129

Perhaps the market annihilation of Vivus could be a last ditch attempt by PFE investors to salvage the inflated price of PFE. Their rationale is: " if you force us to take Viagra off the market, with Vivus now gone, what will the world's ED patients take? Ergo: " we need special treatment ".

I think that we are beginning to approach the panic buttons with Viagra especially when you see their declining sales. The Urologists are just now beginning to realize that they have a tiger ( Viagra ) by the tail: a powerful cardiovascular drug that will knock the blood pressure off their patient's bottom, and worst of all they have not been properly trained in the detection and therapy of these cardiovascular side effects that they can unleash but not control. Losing control of a clinical situation is the worst thing that can happen to a doctor: a patient out of control is running against a brick wall.

The real question a Vivus investor ought to ask is: what will the world's ED patients use if Viagra is gone?
Well there is MUSE, which with better drug titration( starting at higher doses) and using the Actis temporary band ( it's taken off for intercourse you actually have something that works as well if not better than Viagra in the true organic, mostly middle age or older ED patients ( not the young psychos with ED in their head, not true impotence ),

I will be unable in the next few days to reply to your posts but I will look for them and reply later,

TA

PS, the above " Vivus shorts hypothesis" could also be viewed as mystery fiction for Vivus investors to read at bedtime, gg

TA