Hot Biopharma Stock on Watch: Arena Pharmaceuticals

Posted by on Aug 23, 2010 | 2 comments

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing oral drugs that target four major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, central nervous system, inflammatory and metabolic diseases. The Company competes with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. and Abbott Laboratories.

The U.S. FDA confirmed that it will review Lorcaserin, a drug discovered and developed by Arena for weight management. This drug is intended for obese as well as overweight patients.

Arena filed for Lorcaserin New Drug Application (NDA) in December 2009. The FDA assigned the target month for the completion of review of the drug by the agency to be October 2010.

Lorcaserin is a new chemical entity that is believed to act as a selective serotonin 2C receptor agonist. The serotonin 2C receptor is expressed in the brain, including the hypothalamus, an area involved in the control of appetite and metabolism. Stimulation of the serotonin 2C receptor in the hypothalamus is associated with feeding behaviour and satiety. Arena has patents that cover lorcaserin in the United States and other jurisdictions, which in most cases are capable of continuing into 2023 without taking into account any patent term extensions or other exclusivity Arena might obtain. Source: company press release.

As per Lorcaserin’s New Drug Application, data package from lorcaserin’s development program includes 18 clinical trials totaling 8,576 patients. The phase 3 trial would include clinical programmes BLOOM (Behavioral modification and Lorcaserin for Overweight and Obesity Management) and BLOSSOM (Behavioral modification and Lorcaserin Second Study for Obesity Management) to be evaluated on 7,200 patients to be treated up to two years.

Arena Pharmaceutical recently diluted its equity by selling 8.955 million shares of its common stock to Deerfield Management, a private equity company with focus on the Healthcare sector. The Company sold the shares at a price of $6.70 per share, a discount of 5% from the stock’s closing price on August 5, 2010. Arena Pharmaceuticals will receive a gross consideration of $60 million. The company plans to utilize $30 million to prepay its debt that is coming due in Jul 2012. Also, as per the facility agreement between Arena and Deerfield Management, payment of $20 million is to be deferred until June 2013, subject to Arena receives the FDA’s approval for its lead weight management drug, Lorcaserin.

  • Want more? Check out the message board buzz for ARNA
  • See what newsletters are recommending this stock here
  • Get breaking news alerts on this stock:  http://thestockmarketwatch.com/

About BeaconEquity.com

BeaconEquity.com is committed to producing the highest-quality insight and analysis of small cap stocks, emerging technology stocks, hot penny stocks and helping investors make informed decisions. Our focus is primarily on the underserved OTC stocks market, or “penny stock” market, which has traditionally been shunned by Wall Street. We have particular expertise with renewable energy stocks, biotech stocks, oil stocks, green energy stocks and internet stocks. There are many hot penny stock opportunities present in the OTC market everyday and we seek to exploit these hot stock gains for our members before the average daytrader is aware of them.

Beacon Equity Group Disclaimer

This newsletter is a paid advertisement and is neither an offer nor recommendation to buy or sell any security. We hold no investment licenses and are thus neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice. The content in this report or email is not provided to any individual with a view toward their individual circumstances. Beaconequity.com is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BlueWave Advisors.

While all information is believed to be reliable, it is not guaranteed by us to be accurate. Individuals should assume that all information contained in our newsletter is not trustworthy unless verified by their own independent research. Also, because events and circumstances frequently do not occur as expected, there will likely be differences between the any predictions and actual results. Always consult a real licensed investment professional before making any investment decision. Be extremely careful, investing in securities carries a high degree of risk; you may likely lose some or all of the investment.

 

About BeaconEquity.com

BeaconEquity.com is committed to producing the highest-quality insight and analysis of small-cap stocks, emerging technology stocks, hot penny stocks and helping investors make informed decisions. Our focus is primarily OTC stocks in the stock market today, which have traditionally been shunned by Wall Street. We have particular expertise with renewable energy stocks, biotech stocks, oil stocks, green energy stocks and internet stocks. There are many hot penny stock opportunities present in the OTC market everyday and we seek to exploit these hot stock gains for our members before the average daytrader is aware of them.

Beacon Equity Group Disclaimer

This newsletter is a paid advertisement and is neither an offer nor recommendation to buy or sell any security. We hold no investment licenses and are thus neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice. The content in this report or email is not provided to any individual with a view toward their individual circumstances. Beaconequity.com is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BlueWave Advisors.

While all information is believed to be reliable, it is not guaranteed by us to be accurate. Individuals should assume that all information contained in our newsletter is not trustworthy unless verified by their own independent research. Also, because events and circumstances frequently do not occur as expected, there will likely be differences between the any predictions and actual results. Always consult a real licensed investment professional before making any investment decision. Be extremely careful, investing in securities carries a high degree of risk; you may likely lose some or all of the investment.

  • http://www.lorcaserindietpill.com/ Lorcaserin

    What I find disturbing with Pharmaceutical companies is that it seems they release news that in essense is pumping up their stock, later when the FDA reviews it they end up finding many more side effects and concerns that the all of the original news releases up to that point have never mentioned. It just happened with Qnexa.(VVUS). But it looks like many are sitting tight on ARNA until the September news from the FDA Advisory Panel. Watch this stock either double or half its price that day.

  • Trygve Aarflot

    Diasagree – for the pharmaceutical companies it may be irrelevant to release info that “in essense is pumping up their stock”. Rather: Don’t they have an obligation to inform?
    They believe in what they are doing – else they wouldn’t have invested

Copyright Beacon Equity @ 2012