Tag Archives: Teva Pharmaceuticals

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Abbott and Ache Labs: A Perfect Match?

Leave a comment

By Dan Carroll, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Abbott Labs has begun its new future swimmingly. After spinning off its former pharmaceuticals division at the beginning of the year, the stock‘s picked up more than 13% and has shareholders smiling from ear to ear. Is it time to step back on this surging stock, considering its future will be guided by the slower growth of nutritionals, medical devices, and generic drugs?

Maybe not. While pharmaceuticals have traditionally been a high-growth business, Abbott’s making moves outside the U.S. to invigorate its future. Enter the emerging markets: Abbott’s been mentioned as one of a few suitors looking to acquire Brazil‘s Ache Laboratorios Farmaceuticos, one of the South American country’s top drug makers. But only a few months into Abbott’s new, post-pharmaceuticals life, Abbott’s interest in this acquisition deserves a deeper look.

What’s up with Ache?
Ache Labs is Brazil‘s fourth-leading drugmaker in terms of sales. The company’s currently privately owned, with several families holding significant stakes. That ownership dynamic presents a problem to the sale: While a couple of the families are looking for a big buyer, at least one isn’t looking to part with their share in Ache. It’s thus still uncertain whether a sale will even happen altogether — but if it does, big names are lining up to make a bid.

Joining Abbott are some of the biggest names in the business. Novartis and Pfizer have reportedly weighed another round of bids for the company, which is expected to sell for somewhere between $4 billion and $6 billion. GlaxoSmithKline had also once been rumored as a potential buyer. However, Glaxo CFO Simon Dingemans said in February that the company wasn’t interested in multibillion-dollar acquisitions, and reports say that it’s no longer in the hunt for the purchase.

But Abbott ditched its pharmaceutical business already — why’s it interested in buying a drugmaker?

Ache is a leader in Brazil‘s prescription medicine business and also is making headway into the over-the-counter drug market. That’s big for Abbott, which operates its generic drug business entirely outside of the U.S. Generic drug sales haven’t been anything special for Abbott recently as they reported only 2% operational growth last year. Still, the business is the company’s second-largest segment by sales, and buying a growing household name like Ache would help strengthen this division and protect against any market downturn in the near future.

Abbott’s been feeling the pressure from rivals in the generic drug space recently. Teva Pharmaceuticals has also pushed into emerging markets after its U.S. sales slowed in 2011, and the company’s set to be a top rival of Abbott’s in the near future. Gaining a leg up in Brazil on Teva would be a big win.

Brazil’s growth story
There’s more than just generic drugs at stake, however: Buying Ache would open up a route straight into the heart of one of the world’s most promising markets.

Brazil‘s generic market is on …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread Has Arrived for MS Patients

Leave a comment

By Sean Williams, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Last November, I examined five experimental drugs that appeared as if they had all of the tools necessary to become life-changing blockbusters from a financial and quality of life perspective. Yesterday, the first experimental drug I highlighted from Biogen Idec was approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a first-line treatment for relapsing MS.

Pardon the cliche, but I believe the greatest thing since sliced bread has just been bestowed upon MS patients whether they realize it yet or not.

Greater efficacy with fewer side effects is possible!
Tecfidera — previously known as BG-12 in trials — was studied in two different clinical trials known as Confirm and Define. In its Confirm study, Biogen noted that its pill, administered twice daily, reduced the rate of MS relapses by an impressive 49%, and was associated with a 71% to 99% drop in new or expanding lesions in both trials.

What’s truly unique about Tecfidera is its adverse events profile, which demonstrates the promise of fewer side effects with better efficacy. The most common side effects exhibited by patients on Tecfidera were flushing and gastrointestinal events, which often resulted in very low trial dropout rates. Biogen’s new medication could also lower lymphocyte counts in patients, according to its press release. 

However, compare this to Novartis‘ Gilenya or Sanofi‘s Aubagio and you’ll get a much clearer picture why Biogen’s oral medication appears superior.

Gilenya, which is approved as both a first-line and second-line MS treatment within the U.S. and comes in pill form as well, has the potential to cause serious cardiovascular problems through slowing a patients’ heart rate, can lower lymphocyte counts (similar to Tecfidera), and can potentially lead to macular edema or liver problems. Sure, it’s a once-daily pill compared to Tecfidera, which is required to be taken twice a day, but the side effects are night-and-day visible to me.

Aubagio, another pill-based drug from Sanofi, comes with even harsher warnings in the form of an FDA black box warning label. The warning specifically notes that Aubagio can cause severe liver problems that can lead to death. Additional side effects for the second-line treatment include kidney problems, high blood pressure, and breathing problems.

When given the choice of these three drugs, even with Tecfidera’s $50,000-$55,000 annual price tag, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Yee, I can almost assure you physicians and patients with any complication potential are going to opt for Biogen’s therapy.  

Biogen’s MS-sector domination
But, Biogen isn’t done there. The growing biotech behemoth recently paid $3.25 billion to acquire a full working interest in IV-based MS therapy Tysabri from Elan . The cash gives Elan the working capital to start over from a relatively empty portfolio while giving Biogen the chance to challenge Novarits, Sanofi, and Teva Pharmaceuticals in the MS arena.

Trust me, there’s little love lost in the MS sector with Teva’s $4 billion MS drug, Copaxone, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Real Money, Meet Real Returns

Leave a comment

By Chuck Saletta, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

The real-money Inflation-Protected Income Growth portfolio launched in early December 2012, with an initial $30,000 in capital. The portfolio’s primary goal is investing in a way that produces an income stream that grows at least as fast as inflation over time.

That’s easier said than done, especially in this era when money in the bank isn’t necessarily safe anymore, and dividend cuts to preserve capital are often needed to assure a company’s survival. The iPIG portfolio attempts to buffer itself against risks like that through paying attention to each pick’s valuation and by investing with an eye towards diversification, as well as to each company’s dividends.

The strategy is based on the writings of Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing and the man that taught investing to Warren Buffett, so there’s hope that it’ll work out over time. Still, it’s fair to ask how those principles are holding up today, especially in light of the economic and market chaos emanating from Cyprus.

So, how is it going?
The table below shows every selection of the iPIG portfolio that has been successfully turned into a real-money investment. There’s one additional pick that ran up before it could be purchased, but the iPIG portfolio has an open limit order in the hopes that it may fall back into the “buy” range.

Company

Purchase Date

# of Shares Owned

Total Cost (including commissions)

Current
Value as of
March 25, 2013

United Technologies

Dec. 10, 2012

18

$1,464.82

$1,670.40

Teva Pharmaceuticals

Dec. 12, 2012

38

$1,519.40

$1,519.62

JM Smucker

Dec. 13, 2012

17

$1,483.45

$1,638.46

Genuine Parts

Dec. 21, 2012

23

$1,476.47

$1,755.82

Mine Safety Appliances

Dec. 21, 2012

36

$1,504.96

$1,771.20

Microsoft

Dec. 26, 2012

55

$1,499.15

$1,548.80

Hasbro

Dec. 28, 2012

43

$1,520.60

$1,877.81

NV Energy

Dec. 31, 2012

84

$1,504.72

$1,660.68

United Parcel Service

Jan. 2, 2013

20

$1,524.00

$1,692.20

Walgreen

Jan. 4, 2013

40

$1,501.80

$1,847.60

Texas Instruments

Jan. 7, 2013

47

$1,515.70

$1,620.56

Union Pacific

Jan. 22, 2013

6

$805.42

$823.14

CSX/p>

Jan. 22, 2013

34

$712.50

$812.26

McDonald’s

Jan. 24, 2013

16

$1,499.64

$1,571.84

Beckton, Dickinson

Jan. 31, 2013

18

$1,518.64

$1,663.74

Aflac

Feb. 5, 2013

27

$1,466.35

$1,391.04

Air Products & Chemicals

Feb. 11, 2013

17

$1,510.99

$1,486.99

Raytheon

Feb. 22, 2013

27

$1,473.91

$1,532.52

Cash

      

$4,624.95
     

Data from the iPIG portfolio brokerage account, as of March 25, 2013.

The iPIG portfolio has been in existence for just over a quarter and has purchased 18 stocks, with two of those being half-size positions to build a national railroad network. The portfolio’s total value is nearly 8.4% above its starting level, and several of the picks have already increased their dividends. While it’s way too early to call the portfolio an overall success, the early news has been incredibly strong.

In-market results highlights and lowlight
Toy maker Hasbro has far surpassed expectations from a return-on-investment perspective, up an astounding 23.5% since being bought in late December. This is something of a surprise, especially since Hasbro missed expectations for the recent all-important winter holiday season. Still, Hasbro’s stock was bought at such a discount to its intrinsic value estimate that it hasn’t quite hit the sell range, yet. If it keeps climbing, though, it might earn the honor of being the first pick to be sold based on valuation.

Similarly, drugstore giant Walgreen has also risen an amazing 23% since being bought …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Calling All Developers: Enterprises Need Your Help

Leave a comment

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Calling All Developers: Enterprises Need Your Help


With $100,000 in prizes and the promise of incubation, the Philly Enterprise Hackathon is bringing together―for the first time in Philadelphia―the community of software developers and enterprise companies


Hacking begins April 2, 2013


Enterprises and Winners of the Hackathon will be recognized at the PACT Enterprise Awards on May 9, 2013

PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Developers need customers and companies need innovation. It’s a no-brainer that these two groups should be working more closely together, but for some reason the connection has yet to be made.

The Philly Enterprise Hackathon sets out to shift this paradigm by connecting great developers with “big world” opportunities inside the enterprise—turning ideas into viable products or companies.

Hacking will begin on April 2, 2013

The Philly Enterprise Hackathon will officially kick-off in Philadelphia at the 8th Annual Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise Conference on April 2, 2013. The Hackathon has two tracks:

1. Infrastructure ― Sponsored by Bentley Systems and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania‘s Delaware River Water Alliance; and

2. Life Sciences ― Sponsored by Teva Pharmaceuticals.

At 10:30am on April 2, Harry Vitelli, VP, Construction and Field Products from Bentley Systems, Mark Trabbold, Director of Business Development, Technology Commercialization Group from BFTP/SEP and TBA from Teva Pharmaceuticals will issue their “challenges” to developers. Developers will then have two and half weeks―with scheduled meet-ups in between with the Enterprises―to build prototypes and register their idea for consideration. Five finalists will be selected and announced during Philly Tech Week. Those finalists will present to the Enterprises at a Shark Tank on May 1st at The Hub where a winner and a runner-up will be chosen for …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Does Teva's Dividend Have Room to Soar?

Leave a comment

By Brenton Flynn, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

With interest rates still sitting near record lows, investors looking for current income have been forced to move from fixed income positions and into stocks to find yield. To help offset those risks, one of the first things dividend investors do is look for companies operating in stable, growing industries like Teva Pharmaceuticals . But before doing the foolish thing and taking this dividend for granted, let’s take a closer look at whether it’s truly worthy of a spot in your portfolio.

Health is priceless; health care isn’t.
As a pharmaceutical company, Teva benefits from many of the unique elements of the industry that make it attractive for dividend investors. We all know it’s impossible to put a price on one’s health and well-being. Because of that, and due to the unbearable cost of emergency health problems, insurance companies and government entitlement programs have taken over as the gatekeepers of health care spending around the world.

But the industry’s high costs didn’t just appear out of thin air. Partly to blame is the fact that our insurance systems have effectively masked the direct costs of health care by turning the system into a kind of all-you-can-eat buffet, removing most of the consumer-driven pricing mechanisms that exist in practically every other industry. This dynamic, along with the aging and increasingly unhealthy society that we’re all well aware of, is a key reason health care spending will continue to grow.

But while these big picture trends might be driving the overall industry, investors looking at specific health care dividend stocks need to dig a layer deeper to understand the company-specific issues at work. After all, dividends aren’t a guarantee, and if the going gets tough enough, even a “stable” health care stock could cut — or eliminate — its dividend. With that being said, let’s check on where Teva’s dividend has been and try to determine where it’s going.

Payout ratios
A quick-and-dirty technique for checking a dividend’s sustainability is taking a look at something called the payout ratio. Typically this is expressed as a percentage, looking at a company’s dividend per share relative to its net income per share. That’s a decent start, but I prefer to use a slightly different measurement that replaces net income, an accounting measurement, with something more tangible — cold hard cash. The chart below shows how much of Teva’s free cash flow has been eaten up by its dividend payments over the past two years. The lower the better, suggesting more capacity for future dividend hikes.

Valuation
Not all dividends are created equal. At first glance a high dividend yield may look nice, but all too often it means a problem is lurking around the corner for a business. Looking at Teva’s 3% dividend yield in isolation only tells half of the story, which is why investors need to have an understanding of how the market perceives a company prior to buying a …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Down 35%! This Is a Biotech Trainwreck

Leave a comment

By Brian Orelli, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals is hurting today after dialing back guidance for the year. Apparently the increased production by Sagent Pharmaceuticals of generic leucovorin, a less purified version of Spectrum’s Fusilev, is cutting into Fusilev sales .

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

October 2011: “How do you guess when Teva Pharmaceuticals and others will get their act together? And then when — dare I say, if — they do, how do you estimate how many doctors will head back to the generic?” 

July 2012: “If you can confidently say that Fusilev sales are here to stay for the long term, Spectrum is probably a good buy at this point. I don’t have that confidence.”

Spectrum claims that doctors actually want to buy the product, but that hospitals that stock the drug are cutting back on Fusilev now that the generic is more readily available.

The biotech is guiding for Fusilev sales of $10 to $15 million for the first quarter of the year, and approximately $80 to $90 million for the full year 2013. Spectrum claims sales will stabilize in the second half as inventory is drawn down and sales match demand.

That could be wishful thinking. Even if it hits that goal, assuming $30 million in the first half and $50 million in the second half, we’re still a run rate of just half the over $200 million worth of Fusilev sold last year.

Fusilev is Spectrum’s top-selling drug by far, so the drop in sales hurts overall sales. Last month, Spectrum guided for 2013 revenue above the $268 million it brought in last year. Now it’s looking for revenue in the $160 million to $180 million range.

If Spectrum can stabilize sales and get things moving back in the right direction, it might be worth picking through this train wreck looking for some value. But that’s a pretty monumentous task. Risk-adverse investors would be best off watching from the sidelines for a few quarters until things stabilize.

We know what’s eating at Spectrum’s sales, but do you know “What’s Really Eating at America’s Competitiveness“? In this brand new special free report by The Motley Fool you’ll find out what has Warren Buffett concerned for the future of the U.S. and discover a little-known stock poised to profit from a major government initiative to combat this looming crisis. Grab your free copy today by clicking here.

The article Down 35%! This Is a Biotech Trainwreck originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Brian Orelli has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

Leave a comment

By Chuck Saletta, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

In early December 2012, the Inflation-Protected Income Growth Portfolio was launched. That real-money portfolio is dedicated to finding companies that:

  • Pay dividends
  • Have regularly increased their dividends
  • Look capable of continuing to increase their dividends
  • Are reasonably priced in the market
  • Have the financial strength to persevere, even during rough economic conditions

Add in a requirement for decent diversification to buffer the overall portfolio in the event of a company or industrywide failure, and it creates an incredibly high set of standards to fill. But when there’s real money on the line, would you really expect anything less?

So how’s it going?
Thus far, the iPIG portfolio has bought 18 stocks to fill 17 positions — with one position built on a two-for-one special to improve nationwide coverage. About 85% of the portfolio’s cash is invested, about 5% is still waiting on the stock that might get away, and around 10% is still looking for a home.

The iPIG portfolio started with $30,000, and as of Feb. 28, it was worth $31,329.50. While it’s nice to see gains in the portfolio’s capital base, the day-to-day fluctuations don’t really mean much. Instead, the real news has been from the dividends.

As you would hope to see from a portfolio built on seeking rising dividends, several of its investments have increased their dividends since being selected and purchased. This bodes well for the iPIG portfolio’s goal of building an income stream that grows at least in line with inflation over time. As mentioned in this recent article, Hasbro, Teva Pharmaceuticals, United Parcel Service, and Genuine Parts all raised their dividends since being selected.

In addition, NV Energy declared that its March dividend would be $0.19 a share. That move from $0.17 previously represents a nearly 11.8% increase on a percentage basis. As the dividend is still well covered by the company’s earnings, it’s a raise that looks like it will keep.

Electric utilities like NV Energy were traditionally viewed as “widows and orphans” stocks with reliable, predictable dividends. As Exelon investors found out when that company recently cut its dividend, times have changed. Still, the Exelon story serves as a good reminder of the importance of both diversification and assuring that the company paying the dividends has solid fundamentals backing up those payments.

What hasn’t worked?
Unfortunately, not every stock in the iPIG portfolio is living up to the dream. In February, Mine Safety Appliances went ex-dividend on its fifth-consecutive quarterly payment at $0.28 a share. While the company has consistently paid a higher dividend every calendar year for over four decades, it hasn’t consistently raised its dividend every four quarters.

As a result, that steady dividend, while disappointing, is neither out of character nor completely unexpected. So Mine Safety Appliances won’t be booted from the iPIG portfolio because of that lack of an increase, but it will be watched closely for weak cash flows or other signs that its business could be faltering.

What …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance